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Libya Unity Govt. Allies Capture IS-Held Towns
[An Nahar] Fighters allied with Libya's U.N.-backed unity government have captured two coastal towns from the Islamic State...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group in an advance towards its bastion Sirte, a front man said on Tuesday. The Petroleum Facilities Guard overran Ben Jawad and Nofiliya as they thrust westwards along the Mediterranean coast from their base in Libya's eastern oil ports, the front man for the force said. Five people were killed and 18 maimed in Monday's fighting, sector commander Colonel Bashir Buthefira said. "Our forces have taken control of Nofiliya and are now advancing towards Harawa" about 75 kilometers (45 miles) east of Sirte, he said on Tuesday. Sirte was the home town of slain strongman Muammar Qadaffy ...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years until he was ejected from the gene pool by his indignant citizens... and, since seizing it in June last year, IS has turned it into a recruitment and training camp. Western governments fear the jihadists could use Sirte's port and airport as a springboard for attacks in Europe. But they have called for any offensive against the IS stronghold to be carried out under the auspices of the unity government installed in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... since March 30 for fear that rival operations could play into the jihadists' hands. Posted by: Fred 2016-06-01 |
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