5 major extremists surrender amid LNA’s liberation of Darnah

CAIRO – 22 May 2018: Five leading members of the Islamic State terrorist group (ISIS) have surrendered amid the liberation operation of Darnah, east Libya, the operations room of Omar al-Mukhtar, under the general command of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), announced on Monday.

The Libyan army added that they have offered the militants safe passage out of Darnah, setting out a proposal to let them surrender their stronghold to the legitimate forces.

Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the 75-year-old commander of the LNA, announced early May the launch of a military offensive on the city of Darnah. The LNA started the operation with conducting airstrikes and shelling the city for some time, and then they launched a ground offensive.

The Libyan army began to mobilize more troops around the town of Darnah, in preparation for launching a large-scale military operation to free it completely from terrorist groups loyal to al-Qaeda organization and ISIS.

The Public Information Office of the General Command said in a previous statement that "the army is advancing steadily to liberate Darnah, and that soon the armed forces will enter the city, after the eradication of all the terrorists."

A few days ago, the operations room of Omar al-Mukhtar has declared the control of a number of strategic sites, which were taken by the militant elements of the "Shura Council in Darnah," the most important of which was "Abu Salim Mosque” in the area of Sidi Aziz.

This escalation coincided with threats from Haftar to eliminate militants belonging to the Shura Council of Mujahideen who have controlled Darnah since 2015. It is the last eastern town out of the LNA’s control.

Haftar has been away from Libya for some time raising many questions about his health. His return however put an end to the rumors, while his visit to Darnah confirmed the Libyan army’s intention to resume its battle against extremist groups.