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Libyan forces’ battle for eastern city Derna in final stages: spokesman
[OANN] Forces loyal to Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar ...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, 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...said their campaign against an armed coalition of local fighters and Islamists in the eastern city of Derna has reached its final stages after several days of heavy fighting. Brigades from Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) launched a ground offensive to take Derna last month after encircling the city ‐ the last in eastern Libya to elude their control ‐ for around two years. The fighting risks undermining U.N.-led efforts to reunify Libya and hold elections after years of turmoil that have provided a safe haven to faceless myrmidons and people smugglers, and crippled Libya’s oil-dependent economy. Haftar is the dominant figure in eastern Libya, where he is aligned with a government and parliament that reject the internationally recognized government in the capital, 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... , in the northwest. The LNA is fighting a coalition known as the Derna Protection Force (DPF), which includes local combatants and Islamist forces with links to groups in western Libya that also oppose Haftar. The LNA says the DPF includes fighters with connections to al Qaeda, as well as foreign bully boys. The DPF disputes this, saying it is battling to defend Derna from a military takeover as Haftar seeks national power. On Saturday and Sunday, the LNA said it had advanced in the district of Sheiha after hitting it with multiple air strikes, to the edge of Al Maghar in central Derna, a Mediterranean port. "What remains outside the control of our forces is considered a small combat zone, less than just 10 km squared," said LNA front man Ahmed al-Mismari. "The operations are in their final stages and the fighting is very heavy." Posted by: Fred 2018-06-12 |
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