Troops loyal to the UN-brokered Government of National Accord(GNA) are advancing further into territory formerly controlled by the Islamic State in Libya (IS). On the western front, troops under the Al-Bunyan Al-Marsoos (Solid Structure) have advanced almost to Sirte and have captured the steam power plant on the outskirts of the city. Troops coming from the south have managed to control Jarif and surrounding area. In Sirte itself, the Islamic State closed down its courts days ago and IS fighters and police vanished from the streets. IS also closed down its radio station. The Solid Structure operations room announced that three of its forces had been killed and 20 injured during recent clashes. A recent tweet claims the city appears virtually empty. Seventy five have been reported killed since the operation against the Islamic State began. IS has mounted a number of suicide attacks using vehicles. On the eastern front, the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) that are allied with the GNA took control of the town of Nawfiliva around 130 kilometers east from the IS stronghold of Sirte. They had captured the town of Ben Jawad further east earlier with the loss of five fighters. No troops were lost in taking Nawfiliva. A new operations room was established in the east to coordinate attacks. The PFG is an opponent of Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) who does not recognize the GNA. The LNA is the armed forces of the HoR. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Martin Kobler, claimed that the various militia in the country must unite in order to defeat the Islamic State or Daesh as he likes to call it. Kobler said at a meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault that a united command structure was needed under the control of Faiez Serraj the PM of the GNA. Kobler said: “One point must be very clear. The fight against Daesh must first be a Libyan fight and a united fight.” He said nobody acting alone will succeed and security actors in the west and east must unite their forces under a joint command structure under the GNA. Ayrault said that the priority was to incorporate General Haftar who heads the LNA with western militias. There is absolutely no sign that this will happen. Haftar has claimed it is unthinkable for him to join GNA forces until all the militias aligned with the GNA were disbanded. This is not likely to happen any time soon since the GNA relies on the militia for security. Kobler said that he has tried to hold talks with Haftar but Haftar refused. The attacks on IS from the east and the west and also the south have greatly reduced the area held by the IS and brought the Misrata militia on the western front to the outskirts of Sirte. It seems quite possible for the Islamic State to be defeated without Haftar agreeing to a unified command under the GNA. Haftar launched his own march towards Sirte weeks ago but for some reason has not attacked them at all. Instead he has launched Operation Volcano against the Shura Council of Derna who were actually instrumental in driving IS out of the city. Kobler's waiting for Haftar to join a unified command makes little sense, when the present forces appear strong enough to defeat IS, especially if the west provides them with more arms and ammunition. Already, UK special forces appear to be helping on the western front.
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There have been angry protests in Tripoli Wednesday over the lack of cash available at banks.
There are long lineups at banks waiting to withdraw cash. The UN-backed Government of National Accord(GNA) and the Tripoli-based Central Bank of Libya(CBL) are having new banknotes produced by De LaRue in the UK. The rival eastern-based Central Bank is having new notes issued printed in Russia for the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR). The notes have arrived and distribution began today. The eastern bank notes have different security features, watermarks, and serial numbers. At first, the Presidential Council(PC) of the GNA claimed the eastern notes were counterfeit a position immediately supported by the US embassy. However, the PC has since reversed its policy after meeting with representatives of the rival CBL and accepted the notes. It sees them as a way to help the cash shortage that is causing the GNA to lose support. However, the head of the Tripoli-based CBL has rejected the bills. As a recent tweet put it: "#Libya Eastern central bank currency distributed today. UN-backed govt says it is national currency but Tripoli central bank says it is not." It is not clear whether the eastern notes will also be distributed in the western areas under control of the GNA. The confusion can only bring the UN-backed GNA into greater disrepute. The GNA is supposed to begin its term only after a formal vote of confidence from the HoR. Meetings to have the vote have been either without a quorum or disrupted. The GNA has activated itself anyway with the support of the UN and the international community. The UN and most of the international community recognize only the GNA and the Tripoli-based LCB but the HoR refuses to recognize the GNA until it votes confidence in it. The HoR has its own central bank and national oil company. The HoR is very much under the control of General Khalifa Haftar a former CIA operative who is commander in chief of the Libyan National Army. He does not recognize the GNA. Since May 2014 his Operation Dignity has been attempting to clear Libya of Islamists which would also include some associated with the GNA. Sources: http://kenthink7.blogspot.ca/2016/05/rival-libyan-central-banks-print.html http://kenthink7.blogspot.ca/2016/05/presidency-council-of-libyan-unity.html https://www.libyangazette.net/2016/05/29/presidential-council-accepts-eastern-banks-new-banknotes/ https://twitter.com/LibyaschannelEN/status/738002546619482112?lang=en https://twitter.com/reportingLibya/status/737972881133568001?lang=en A US air strike recently in Libya may have killed Mokhtar Belmokhtar. At first, officials of the internationally-recognized Tobruk government insisted on Sunday that Belmokhtar had been killed in the attack but later said they were unsure who was killed.
The strike was on a farm near the city of Benghazi. According to different reports, 3 to 7 people have now been reported killed but none have been identified. US officials believed that Belmokhtar was at a meeting at the farm. Belmokhtar is not just a jihadist but a leading drug smuggler and arms dealer and has extensive connections among tribal leaders in areas where he operates. He is married to a woman from Timbuktu, Mali. If this was a business meeting with important local tribal leaders present this will make the Tobruk government even more a target of revenge attacks for allowing the US strike. American officials said the strikes were carried out by multiple F15E fighter jets. Multiple bombs were said to have been dropped on the site. Colonel Steve Warren, a defense department spokesperson confirmed that Belmokhtar was the target of the attack. Belmokhtar is perhaps best known for claiming credit for the incident in 2013 in Algeria in which 39 hostages and 29 militants ended up dead. He was prominent in the Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb(AQIM) movement. Belmokhtar fought in Algeria, Afghanistan, and has been long active in the Sahara area including Mali, in smuggling, hostage-taking for ransom, and various insurgencies. Some reports say that his meeting was with members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Ansar al Sharia , the group often blamed for the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi. Often called the Prince, Belmokhtar has a reputation for being killed in attacks only to re-emerge in public and in jihadist videos. US officials may be less insistent this time that he has been killed until they have better evidence. Often jihadists themselves announce when one of their leaders are killed. I have often wondered if such reports are always reliable although in some cases there is independent evidence as well. Jihadists could announce the death of a leader to ensure that the leader is safe from further targeted killing attempts. The air strikes indicate that the US is now extending the range of its targeted killing to Libya. The attacks will be seen by Islamists within the rival Tripoli government as support for the Tobruk government and its armed forces chief Khalifa Haftar who has had previous ties with the CIA. There are peace talks ongoing between the rival government hosted by the UN. The UN special envoy to Libya, Bernardino Leon hoped to reach a deal before Ramadan this Thursday but so far there is silence about what is happening. Sources: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-strike-targets-veteran-militant-linked-to-algeria-hostage-attack/2015/06/14/f701152a-12d8-11e5-9518-f9e0a8959f32_story.html http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/15/world/middleeast/us-airstrike-targets-qaeda-operative-in-libya.html?_r=0 http://news.yahoo.com/u-conducts-counter-terrorism-strike-against-al-qaeda-204257296.html http://news.antiwar.com/2015/06/15/us-strike-in-libya-killed-three-but-growing-doubts-target-was-among-them/
The armed men who had been protesting outside the HoR actually tried to storm the building, firing shots into the air, and shouting demands that al-Thinni resign. The government spokesperson said that the men were financed by "corrupted political financiers" linked to powerful local tribal leaders. He did not elaborate or give any more specific information. The session was postponed until next week.
Earlier on local TV, Faraj Akhatabia, a member of the dominant Obiedi tribe in Tobruk, threatened Al-Thinni: “This prime minister must resign, if he doesn’t I will smash his head. Either he leaves or we won’t let the house of representatives stay in Tobruk.” An anonymous security adviser to the government linked the threat to Hassan Tatanaki, a prominent businessman and oil magnate who also belongs to the Obiedi tribe and owns the TV station on which Ahkatabia made the threat. Apparently, Tatanaki wanted to be appointed foreign minister but so far Al-Thinni has not done so. The Tobruk government faces threats not just from the Islamic State and its rivals in the GNC but from local tribes who are unhappy with its performance and are demanding a greater share of power. Sources: http://time.com/3897351/libya-prime-minister-assassination-attempt/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2015/05/26/assassination-attempt-libya-prime-minister/27982383/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/26/libya-prime-minister-assassination-attempt_n_7445496.html
In spite of the huge ideological difference between Gadaffi's ideology and that of radical jihadists, the Misratans claim that the strength of the Islamic State comes from former Gadaffi loyalists supplemented by former fighters from Syria and Iraq. While this seems paradoxical it would explain how a former Gadaffi stronghold is now held by the very jihadists Gadaffi himself fought against.
Residents of Sirte feel that they gained little from the revolution. Mohammed Ali a student who lived in a suburb now controlled by IS said: "Before the revolution life was so much better. We had electricity, security. Schools were always open,They (Islamic State) are fine. They leave you alone unless you fight them." The vast ideological difference between the Gadaffi regime and IS just does not seem to register in his mind. Some Gadaffi loyalists it would appear are now keen IS fighters just another bizarre feature of the Libyan conflict. Sources: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/militias-islamic-state-extremists-clash-central-libya-31182019 http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/21/us-libya-security-insight-idUSKBN0O610M20150521 http://news.yahoo.com/gaddafis-home-town-falls-islamic-state-anarchic-libya-094455638.html |
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Ken Hanly
Ken is a retired philosophy professor living in the boondocks of Manitoba, Canada, with his Filipina wife. He enjoys reading the news and writing articles. Politically Ken is on the far left of the political spectrum on many issues.
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