TRIPOLI: A rogue ex-Libyan general resumed air strikes on jihadists in the city of Benghazi yesterday, while gunmen attacked an interior ministry team in Tripoli tasked with protecting the outgoing government.
Forces loyal to former general Khalifa Haftar carried out an air raid on a jihadist camp on the outskirts of Benghazi ex-rebels said. “A warplane carried out raids on a camp of the ‘February 17 Martyrs Brigades,’ hitting it with two missiles,” said Ahmed Al Jazaoui, without reporting casualties.
Haftar, who returned to Libya from American exile to join the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, launched a deadly anti-jihadist campaign in Benghazi on May 16 when warplanes also bombed February 17 positions. Subsequent fighting killed at least 79 people.
The powerful brigade is made up of Islamist ex-rebels, including radicals, and is suspected of links with Ansar Al Sharia, a group classified as a terrorist group by Washington
On the political front, the cabinet office condemned an attack late Tuesday on an interior ministry force in charge of protecting the government, in which there were no casualties.
Amid the political and security turmoil in Libya three years after the Nato-backed revolution, the US State Department called on Americans to leave the country immediately.
“Due to security concerns, the Department of State has limited staffing at Embassy Tripoli and is only able to offer very limited emergency services to US citizens in Libya,” a travel warning said. “US citizens currently in Libya should exercise extreme caution and depart immediately.”
The United States is deploying an amphibious assault ship with about 1,000 marines off the coast of Libya in case the embassy needs to be evacuated.
The precautions come amid persistent controversy over a September 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi in which Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed.
Since Gaddafi’s death, Libya has been dogged by power struggles among rival former rebel militias and is awash with arms.
AFP
