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| Africa North |
| Benghazi Violence: Benina clashes continue into fifth consecutive day |
| 2014-10-07 |
| [Libya Herald] Nine more members of 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... have died and three members of Benghazi Revolutionaries' Shoura Council (BRSC) were also reportedly killed as the identities of those slain in the last five days of fighting continue to emerge. The Head of Saiqa Special Forces Investigations Unit, Fadel Al-Hassi, told the Libya Herald that BRSC had continued its assault on Benina from several points but that with the support of Operation Dignity's air forces the attackers had been repulsed. He said that ...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... and its allies as they attack Benina. Hassi identified Saiqa's dead as Ahmed Juma Gweri, Hamid Mansour, Salah Hamdi, Adel Mohammed, Saad Al-Khalifi, Mohammed Omar, Issa Bubakr, Mohammed Al-Badri and Mohammed Al-Afaf. Ahmed Abid Al-Dressi, Abdullah Al-Khabasa and Abdullah Al-Moghrabi from BRSC were also reportedly killed in the festivities although medics at Benghazi Medical Centre (BMC) could only confirm the death of one of the three, Moghrabi. The same medical sources explained that staff at the hospital were struggling to deal with the influx of dead and injured from the fighting. They explained that many of the bodies that had been brought in had not yet been processed. While much of the recent violence in Benghazi has centred around Benina and surrounding areas, in the early hours of the morning a security building in the Sabri area was destroyed in a kaboom. There were no human losses although the building was raised to the ground. The latest surge in violence in Benghazi began on Thursday when BRSC carried out a double suicide kaboom on Benina. Twenty four soldiers were killed and 12 maimed in the initial blasts and subsequent fighting, according to the government. Medical reports, however, put Thursday's toll at 29 dead and dozens maimed. These are only the casualties on the army's side. The number of BRSC's dead and maimed was not disclosed. |
| Posted by:Fred |