Anti – 5 April 2015

Apr 5, 2015 | Libyan actors

Hafter finally made some progress in Benghazi this week, taking almost full control of the notorious Al-Sabri neighbourhood. Photographs posted on the Internet show the LNA in command of the area, although there are still a number of pockets that are in the hands of the militants who are still using the Jiliana Port to get ammunition and fighters. The photographs also reveal the extent of the damage that has been caused by the fighting, with the neighbourhood left devastated by the attacks.

Fierce fighting also has continued around Sirte prompting Misrata’s Brigade 166 on 4 April to declare a curfew on the town, advising its residents not to leave their houses between 10pm and 7am. But Operation Libya Dawn is also having trouble convincing locals to leave, something that would enable it to bomb the town. Meanwhile, Operation Libya Dawn is continuing to promote the narrative that IS is composed of Qadhafi loyalists and foreign jihadists. On 5 March the Misratan-led alliance claimed that it had arrested an IS cell in Tripoli that included a number of foreign fighters.