Other — 17 February 2016

Feb 17, 2016 | Other Jihadi Actors

The LNA’s 302 Infantry Brigade entered Ajdabiya unimpeded. According to Mohammed Al Gabsi, head of the Brigade, Ibrahim Jadhran attempted to send troops from the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) to prevent the LNA from entering the city, but failed. Gabsi said the PFG will be ‘dealt’ with by the LNA later.

A MiG-23 fighter belonging to the LNA was shot down 12 February as it bombed positions of the Mujahedeen Shura Council in Garyunes, northwest of Benghazi. According to SITE Intelligence Group, a US monitor of jihadist activity on the Internet, ISIS claimed its fighters brought down the plane. It was the second military air crash this week. On 15 February, another of the LNA’s MiG-23s crashed near Derna after attacking ISIS positions east of the city.

Ansar Al Sharia also issued a statement after conducting an attack on five LNA posts on the western battlefront of Benghazi, publishing photographs of looted vehicles and weapons, abandoned by the retreating LNA units.