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Suicide bomber kills seven in Libyan city of Benghazi
 [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] At least seven people were killed and eight maimed when a jacket wallah targeted forces loyal to Libya’s eastern government in Benghazi on Sunday, medical and security officials said.ISIS said it carried out the bombing, in the besieged district of Ganfouda. The area is one of the last pockets of resistance holding out against the Libyan National Army (LNA), a self-styled force loyal to eastern commander Khalifa Haftar ... served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all... Haftar has been waging a military campaign in Benghazi for more than two years against Islamists and other opponents. The fighting is part of a broader, low-intensity conflict in Libya, which splintered into multiple political and armed factions after the uprising that toppled Muammar Qadaffy ...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland and was then murdered by his indignant subjects 42 years later... in 2011. This year the LNA has made major gains in Benghazi, though fighting and attacks have continued in parts of the city. All those killed in Sunday’s bombing were from the LNA, a medical source from Benghazi’s main hospital said. The attack came after the latest advance on Saturday by the LNA, which said following heavy festivities that it had taken control of buildings along the seafront west of Ganfouda, encircling its opponents. At least three LNA troops were killed in Saturday’s fighting, security and medical officials said. An LNA front man, Ahmed al-Masmari, said 13 fighters from "terrorist groups" had also been killed. Recently there have been efforts to evacuate civilians trapped by the fighting in Ganfouda but only small numbers of women and kiddies and foreign workers have left the area. Masmari said on Sunday that about 120 families remained inside Ganfouda. Those fighting the LNA in Benghazi include the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council (BRSC), a coalition of Islamists and self-proclaimed revolutionaries, as well as Lions of Islam loyal to ISIS. Posted by: Fred 2016-12-19 |
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