Clashes break out between ISIS terrorists and Libyan militants

Africa, Middle East, News March 15, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

Rare clashes have broken out between ISIS terrorists and a powerful militant group in Libya’s central city of Sirte, officials say.

Saturday’s fighting erupted at midday between the ISIS terrorists and Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) militants in the eastern part of Sirte, a local security official said.

General Mohammed al-Ajtal, a commander of Farj Libya, reported “fierce fighting” between the two groups, adding that one of his men was killed in the scuffles.

The incident was the first case of fighting between the two sides since February, when Fajr Libya sent reinforcements to Sirte to restore security following reports that ISIS-linked militants had seized government buildings and a state radio station in the volatile city.

Sirte, the hometown of former dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks since the 2011 revolution that toppled him.

The ouster of Gaddafi after a 2011 uprising brought about a patchwork of heavily-armed militias and deep political divisions.

Exploiting the power vacuum in the Libya, the ISIS, which controls some regions in Iraq and Syria, has expanded acts of terror to the violence-wracked country.

In February, 45 people were killed and dozens of others injured in ISIS’s triple bomb explosions that struck Libya’s northeastern city of al-Qubah.

In the same month, the ISIS released a video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians there.

The town of Nufliyeh, located 120 kilometers (74 miles) east of Sirte, is regarded as the ISIS stronghold in Libya along with the eastern city of Derna.

MSM/NT/AS