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| Africa North |
| Fighting in south east Benghazi as Ansar renews Benina attacks |
| 2014-09-02 |
| [Libya Herald] There were Massive missile attacks and kabooms overnight in and around the Benghazi district of Buatni as 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 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... launched a fresh assault on Benina Airport. The head 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... Investigations Unit, Fadel Al-Hassi, told the Libya Herald that Ansar had ceased its offensive at around midday having begun at around midnight. He said Ansar had deployed a number of armoured cars in its attempts to take the airport but that finally Special Forces had been abel to repulse the Islamists as far as Sidi Mansour. Benina Airport and a nearby Air Defence base are the last major positions held by Operation Dignity in Benghazi since its Special Forces partners were pushed from its headquarters in Buatni at the end of Ramadan. Buatni has been the backdrop to the worst fighting in Benghazi over the last month with most residents now displaced and sheltering in schools or with friends and relatives in other parts of the city. The commander of Operation Dignity's airforces Adam Saqr Geroushi said his aircraft had carried out There have also been reports of sporadic festivities in and around Benghazi University in the past 24 hours. Believed to involve February 17 Brigade, the fighting will likely push back the reopening of the university, which it was hoped would restart classes this month. |
| Posted by:Fred |