Libya: Pro-Gaddafi cell uncovered, military op. launched

CAIRO – 22 May 2018: The Libyan National Army has been waging a military campaign in Derna, eastern Libya to liberate it from the remaining terrorists. The military air strikes targeted militants at the Al-Salam and western Shiha districts.

In the meantime, Libyan security forces announced arresting of a pro-Saif al-Islam Gaddafi sabotage cell near the capital of Tripoli.

"Police forces succeeded to arrest a seven-member armed cell affiliated to the so-called Popular Front to Liberate Libya (PFLL), which is led by elements that are pro-Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam," said the Special Deterrence Forces of the Libyan Interior Ministry in a statement on Monday.

The statement revealed that the defendants had planned to carry out sabotage and chaotic acts. PFLL claimed it will seek to "liberate Libya from the leaders of the plot schemed against Libya in 2011," according to their previous statements.

PFLL was established in Dec. 2016, describing itself as a new political entity led by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

France is expected to host a meeting for Libyan factions' leaders to discuss recent developments and reach a political compromise, a Libyan source told Egypt Today on Tuesday.

The source revealed that Libyan Army Commander Khalifa Haftar, Libyan Presidential Council Chief Fayez Serraj, First Deputy of the State Supreme Council Nagy Mokhtar and Parliament Speaker Akila Saleh will take part in this meeting.

Five ISIS leaders and Al-Qaeda in Derna turned themselves in to the Libyan National Army (LNA), said Abdel Karim Sabra, spokesman for the major operation against terrorists in Derna, controlled by the Mujahideen Shura Council (DMSC).

The operation was launched upon an announcement Haftar to liberate the city from Islamist militias on May 7.

Two days ago, the high-risk terrorist Omar Refaei Sorour was severely wounded following air strikes on Al-Qaeda hideouts in Derna, Salem al-Rafady, commander of the Libyan Army’s Omar al-Mokhtar brigade, revealed to Al-Ahram's correspondent in Libya.

Rafady said that his brigade had successfully targeted several hideouts of Al-Qaeda in Derna. “Our sources confirmed the injury of Sorour, who had been seen at a field hospital,” Rafady added.

Sorour is also known as Abu Abdullah al-Masry. He is one of the key leading terrorists in Derna and has been known for being the judge of Al-Qaeda in Libya. Sorour is accused of establishing the so-called al-Murabeton group, which is the Libyan branch of Al-Qaeda, in coordination with wanted-criminal Hisham al-Ashmawy.

Sorour is responsible for recruiting and training Arab youth and luring them to join terrorist groups in Syria, Libya and Egypt.

In May 2017, Egypt’s Armed Forces launched airstrikes against IS in Libya, attacking IS training camps and the main center of the DMSC, which allegedly harbored the terrorist elements who carried out the Minya terrorist attacks in Egypt that killed 30 people and injured dozens others.

Libya has been in a state of turmoil since a 2011 civil war that resulted in the overthrow of longstanding ruler Muammar Gaddafi by rebel fighters backed by NATO airstrikes.

Meanwhile, Algeria hosted a tripartite meeting on Monday that brought together the foreign ministers of Egypt and Tunisia in order to address the situation in the North African nation.