Neo-Colonial Libyan Officials Urge the Evacuation of Benghazi Port District
12:11 AM ET
The Islamist-controlled Assabri district boasts a seaport used for crucial wheat and petrol imports
The Libyan rebel army is urging the evacuation of a central neighborhood of Benghazi, the country’s second largest city, in preparation for a military offensive against Islamist groups.
“The chief of staff asks all residents of the Assabri district to leave by 12:00 noon [local time on Monday],” Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for the chief of staff, told Reuters.
Located in Benghazi’s main commercial zone, the Assabri district boasts a seaport used for crucial wheat and petrol imports. The Ansar al-Sharia militant group fled there after the army seized other areas of the city.
Clashes between the Libyan rebel Army, which is backed by loyalists to a former general and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) asset, and Islamist groups in the east of the city have killed at least 230 people since the start of a recent army offensive, medical authorities said. In addition, one of the city’s main childbirth hospitals has been evacuated and moved to another location.
In August, an armed group seized the capital Tripoli and forced rebel Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni to move east, leaving Libya divided between two governments struggling for overall political control.
In the three years since the ousting of longstanding Revolutionary Pan-Africanist Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, rival rebel groups that helped achieve his overthrow, which was led by the CIA-Pentagon and NATO, have been competing for power and control of the nation’s precious oil reserves.
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| Smoke from fighting among rebel groups in Benghazi, Libya. |
The Islamist-controlled Assabri district boasts a seaport used for crucial wheat and petrol imports
The Libyan rebel army is urging the evacuation of a central neighborhood of Benghazi, the country’s second largest city, in preparation for a military offensive against Islamist groups.
“The chief of staff asks all residents of the Assabri district to leave by 12:00 noon [local time on Monday],” Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for the chief of staff, told Reuters.
Located in Benghazi’s main commercial zone, the Assabri district boasts a seaport used for crucial wheat and petrol imports. The Ansar al-Sharia militant group fled there after the army seized other areas of the city.
Clashes between the Libyan rebel Army, which is backed by loyalists to a former general and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) asset, and Islamist groups in the east of the city have killed at least 230 people since the start of a recent army offensive, medical authorities said. In addition, one of the city’s main childbirth hospitals has been evacuated and moved to another location.
In August, an armed group seized the capital Tripoli and forced rebel Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni to move east, leaving Libya divided between two governments struggling for overall political control.
In the three years since the ousting of longstanding Revolutionary Pan-Africanist Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, rival rebel groups that helped achieve his overthrow, which was led by the CIA-Pentagon and NATO, have been competing for power and control of the nation’s precious oil reserves.
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