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Eight killed and 19 injured as bombs and rockets fall across Benghazi
[Libya Herald] Eight people have been killed and 19 injured, six of them critically, in missile and kabooms in Benghazi yesterday.

The fighting continued into the night with forces from Brega and Ajdabiya loyal to Ibrahrim Jadhran and the Al-Ahdaf Al-Hayawiya (�"��™��"�™��"��"��™ �"��™��"��™��™��™��"©) from both Tobruk and Beida joining the festivities on the side of Operation Dignity, head of Saiqa Special Forces
...Libya's elite army unit, insofar as they have one, formed from a mixture of paratroopers and commandos. The group emerged from a militia with the same name in 2010. It now numbers a few thousand and reports to the Ministry of Defence. It deployed in Benghazi in an attempt to control the carnage. As a result, it has been attacked and several of its officers murdered. The force is popular in Benghazi for its stance against Ansar al-Sharia group...
Investigations Unit Fadel Al-Hassi told the Libya Herald.

Benghazi Medical Centre (BMC) asked all medical personnel to report for duty at the hospital as staff struggle to deal with the casualties. Meanwhile residents evacuated their homes in the city's Tabalino district as missiles fell on the nearby February 17 Brigade camp. The brigade is allied to Ansar al-Sharia
...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libyaand Yemen, with the Libyan versions currently most active. Tunisia's Shabaab al-Tawhid started out an Ansar al-Sharia and changed its name in early 2014. It still uses the old name now and then, probably because the stationery's not all used up and the web site hasn't expired yet...
.

Hassi claimed that 17 February forces had begun firing grad missiles across the city, concentrating their fire on the Saiqa Special forces base in Buatni. Rockets have also been reported landing in the Laithi, Fuwayhat, Garyounis and Tabalino districts.

The majority of the fighting on the ground seems to be focused in Buatni where many of the roads have been blocked with piles of sand after festivities between Saiqa and Ansar two days ago. Eye witnesses there reported tanks being deployed as Ansar made another assault.

Air Force Brigadier-General Saqr Adam Geroushi, the commander of Operation Dignity's air forces said raids had been carried out over several areas since Maghreb prayers last night but would not specify which targets had been attacked.

The latest fighting in Benghazi is seen as a response by bully boyz to calls yesterday from Saiqa Special Forces Commander, Wanis Bukhamada, who demanded that reinforcements be sent to Benghazi to help crush Ansar after its attack on the 318 Brigade's headquarters two days ago.
Posted by: Fred 2014-07-25
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=396343