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Many reported dead in Benghazi as LNA moves to flush out Ansar Al-Sharia
[Libya Herald] There has been deadly violence in parts of Benghazi today and this evening with 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... under intensive attack by the Libyan National Army. According to an LNA source, the holy warriors have been firing rockets at random in response in both Leithi and neighbouring Buhdeima. Reports vary on the number of dead and injured following what appears to have been an attempt by the LNA to flush out Ansar fighters in Leithi as well as the port area and nearby Sabri. According to reports from Jalaa Hospital and the Benghazi Medical Centre, at least a dozen people were killed, of whom three were civilians including a seven-year-old girl and her mother. They died in Buhdeima. The rest were members of the LNA. However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... ambulances are still taking casualties to Jalaa Hospital, which is close to Leithi, and the figure is expected to rise. So far, some 40 people (38 soldiers and two civilians) have injured, some seriously, and taken to Jalaa. The figures do not appear to include Ansar casualties. "They were everywhere in Benghazi today," a local resident said, after the LNA operation started. "They were lost They were trying to hide but they didn't know where to go.," he said, suggesting that they were not from the city. Several had been killed, he added, with locals were keeping the LNA informed as to where they were. Parts of the city are a war zone, with tanks moving moving around. "There is a tank outside my shop," the resident said. Helicopter gunships were also being used, he added. One source in the LNA says that Hafter ordered the attacks on Ansar to be intensified because, having gone to Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... to pay his condolences at the death of King Abdullah, he was concerned that if it became known he was away, Ansar and its colleagues might try a new offensive. Mohammed Hejazi, the front man for Operation Dignity, has denied that Hafter left the country, however. Posted by: Fred 2015-01-27 |
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