Libyan National Army kills IS-elements in Sabha, arrests Egyptian woman

CAIRO - 16 September 2020: On September 15, the Libyan National Army(LNA) announced the elimination of a cell affiliated with the terrorist ISIS group during a crackdown on Abdel Kafi district in the southern Libyan city of Sabha, revealingthat the clash with the terrorists hadlasted for more than 6 hours.

 

According to Spokesperson of the Libyan National Army Ahmed al-Mismari, an Egyptian woman named Naglaa Mahmoud Afifi Hussein and her ISIS husband named Abu Abdullah al-Libi were arrested. Afifi has children from her ex-husband who is imprisoned in Egypt on charges of joining the Jerusalem Organization with her sons Mustafa and Abdullah.

 

Mismari confirmed, during a press conference, that the army had killed anEgyptian and a Sudanese, as well as three Saudis, two Libyans, a Kenyan, a terrorist from the Ivory Coast, and a Libyan woman.

 

The Libyan Army General Command stated in a press release that the operation took a lot of time due to the extremists' use of suicide methods in addition to being armed withthe latest weapons. The leadership also indicated that those terrorist groups were targeting the army command units with more than 32 grenades.

 

Libya has been marred in violence between competing forces, militias, and extremists since the toppling and killing of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The conflict now pits the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) against the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal KhalifaHaftar, for control of the country.

 

The Libyan Presidential Council,headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, and the House of Representatives, headed by AgeelaSaleh, issued statements to announce a ceasefire and a halt of all military operations in all Libyan territories.

 

As hundreds of people have been killed in continuous battles between the conflicting factions in Libya, the Libyan National Army led by Field Marshal KhalifaHaftar and the Parliament in the east, and the Government of National Accord led by Fayez al-Sarraj and its forces in the west, President Abdel Fatha al-Sisiannounced an initiative calling for a ceasefire in June.

 

Moreover, Minister of Foreign Affairs Shoukry highlighted the Jufra-Sirte “red line” Egypt has earlier set in order for a ceasefire to be implemented in Libya and hostile activities to stop in the country.

 

The Egyptian minister affirmed Egypt’s fixed stance and vision on backing the peaceful settlement in Libya, within the framework of the international consensus to resolve the Libyan crisis through the principles of the Berlin Conference held on Libya earlier this year.

 

Shoukry said Egypt would continue to coordinate with international partners to achieve this vision and called on the international community to show seriousness and exert further efforts to help activate this vision in Libya.