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| Africa North |
| Benghazi's Jalaa hospital closes in fresh clashes |
| 2014-10-05 |
| [Libya Herald] There has been fighting at Benghazi's Jalaa hospital, reportedly between 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 Libya and 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... forces and locals. According to a hospital source who asked not to be named, a Sudanese cleaner named as Abdul Karim Abdul Nabi Adam was rubbed out in the festivities. Patients and staff alike are said to have fled and the hospital now closed although fighting is reported to be continuing this evening. The festivities started after locals apparently moved in to evict Ansar from the hospital. It and fellow fighters in Benghazi Revolutionaries Shoura Council have been taking their maimed there from the current fighting around Benina and places bombed by Operation Dignity aircraft. Claims that a leading Ansar commander is being treated at the hospital have not be confirmed. This not the first time that Ansar's presence in the hospital has resulted in deadly violence. In July, seven people were reported killed and 35 injured in festivities at Jalaa between Ansar and 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... three weeks after the Islamists took over security and thus control of the hospital. At the end of the month, locals then forced Ansar to move out but it moved back in hours later after a brief firefight with them. Ansar again left in a deal mediated at the beginning of August by former Benghazi municipal councillor Awad Alqawiri. Under it, the hospital was supposed to be protected by young men from Salmani district. However, a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth... according to the hospital source, there has been no such protection. |
| Posted by:Fred |