THU 28 - 3 - 2024
 
Date: Aug 17, 2015
Source: The Daily Star
ISIS executes rival fighters after revolt in central Libya
BENGHAZI, Libya: ISIS has executed and displayed the bodies of four members of a rival group which had staged a revolt against the militants in the central Libyan city of Sirte, residents said. ISIS crushed in the past few days a revolt by a Salafist Muslim group and armed residents trying to break its grip on the city, located some 500 km to the east of Tripoli. Up to 70 people were killed, residents say.

As a warning to others, ISIS killed four fighters from the rival side and hung their corpses on metal gibbets for public display, four residents told Reuters. Pictures on social media, whose authenticity could not be verified, showed two bodies hanging from a gibbet.

ISIS militants, who have gained a foothold in Libya by exploiting chaos and a security vacuum, also destroyed houses in Sirte belonging to rival fighters, residents said. The fighting typifies the chaos in Libya, where two rival governments and parliaments, together with an assortment of Islamists, tribesmen and armed groups, are battling for control of cities and regions, four years after the fall of veteran leader Moammar Gadhafi.

In separate violence Sunday, unknown gunmen fired on the airport of the main eastern city Benghazi, partly destroying a passenger terminal, the airport’s director said. The airport has been closed since last year due to ongoing fighting between forces loyal to the official government and Islamist groups.

Rockets also landed in a residential district in the eastern city of Derna, from which ISIS was expelled by a rival group in June, residents said. ISIS started an offensive last week to try retake the port city, a hot spot for militants. The internationally recognized government has been based in eastern Libya since losing control of the capital Tripoli a year ago to a rival group, which set up its own administration.

Saturday the official government asked fellow Arab states to stage airstrikes against ISIS in Sirte, Gadhafi’s hometown, which neither Libyan government controls. “The Libyan government, unable to ward off these terrorist groups because of the arms embargo, and out of its historic responsibility toward its people, calls on brotherly Arab countries ... to launch airstrikes against specific targets of [ISIS] locations in Sirte in coordination with our concerned bodies,” the statement said.

The government also condemned the failure of the international community to take action against the group’s rise in Libya.

The Arab League will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday in Cairo to discuss the situation in Libya, Egyptian state television said.

Egypt has joined Libya’s government in calls for international intervention there against ISIS. Egypt has carried out airstrikes inside Libya, including in February after ISIS militants killed 21 Egyptian hostages there.



 
Readers Comments (0)
Add your comment

Enter the security code below*

 Can't read this? Try Another.
 
Related News
Down but not out, Haftar still looms over Libya peace process
Turkey's Erdogan meets with head of Libya's UN-recognized govt
Media watchdog urges Libyan gov't to release reporter
Key Libyan interior minister suspended amid protests
Russia and Turkey agree to push for Libya ceasefire, says Moscow
Related Articles
Divisions over Libya are now spreading across the Mediterranean
Erdogan wades into Libya quagmire
It’s time to tackle inequality from the middle
Haftar’s rebranded Libya coups
Russia’s mediation goals in Libya
Copyright 2024 . All rights reserved