Islamic State Kills 14 Soldiers in Bitterly Divided Libya
January 4, 2015 - 3:56PM
Cairo--Supporters of the so-called Islamic State, the militant group that has overrun parts of Iraq and Syria, have killed 14 Libyan soldiers in the south of the country, the country's embattled government said on Saturday.
In separate violence, forces loyal to the government staged air strikes on the port of Misrata, a western city allied to a group that holds the capital Tripoli.
Both sides also fought with ground troops near the country's biggest oil port, part of a struggle between forces loyal to former rebel groups that helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but now vie for power.
Western powers and Libya's neighbours fear Islamic State and other radical Islamists are seeking to exploit a power vacuum in the oil-producing nation.
The recognised government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni, which has been forced to work from the east since a group known as Libya Dawn linked to Misrata seized Tripoli last August, said Islamic State had executed 14 soldiers on a road north of Sabha, the main city in the south.
"Members of IS staged an attack . . . during which they executed 14 members of the Libyan army belonging to the infantry battalion 168," the government said, asking the international community to lift an arms embargo to help fight what it called terrorists.
A website called Islamic State in Libya claimed responsibility for killing 12 soldiers at the same location and posted a picture purporting to show the execution of one soldier.
A rival Libyan parliament in Tripoli denounced the killing, a Tripoli-based news agency said.
The US military is monitoring a nascent effort by Islamic State to train a couple of hundred fighters in eastern Libya, the commander of US forces in Africa said last month.
Thirteen Egyptians were reported kidnapped in the Libyan city of Sirt, adding to seven that went missing last week in the country, Egypt's state news agency said.
Egypt has supported the recognised Libyan government, even carrying out air strikes against Libya Dawn.
The 13 reported kidnapped on Saturday were Coptic Christians and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had met with senior church officials on Saturday amid efforts to solve the crisis, Egyptian state news agency MENA said.
Magdy Malik, a Christian activist in Egypt, said that gunmen stormed a residence for expatriates in Sirt and abducted the 13 Copts.
Seven Egyptian Christians were found shot execution-style on a beach in eastern Libya last February.
Local reports have said a Coptic doctor and his wife were murdered in their home in early December, with their daughter's body later found.
A formal diplomatic mission to retrieve the Egyptians would be difficult because much of Libya falls outside of the officially recognised government's control, an Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman said on al-Hayat, a state-owned television station. Egypt - whose ambassador was abducted last year - no longer has an embassy in Tripoli.
Troops loyal to Mr Thinni said they had attacked a rival force which three weeks ago tried to seize the Sidra oil port. Sidra and the adjacent Ras Lanuf oil ports have been closed since the clashes started.
Cairo--Supporters of the so-called Islamic State, the militant group that has overrun parts of Iraq and Syria, have killed 14 Libyan soldiers in the south of the country, the country's embattled government said on Saturday.
In separate violence, forces loyal to the government staged air strikes on the port of Misrata, a western city allied to a group that holds the capital Tripoli.
Both sides also fought with ground troops near the country's biggest oil port, part of a struggle between forces loyal to former rebel groups that helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but now vie for power.
Western powers and Libya's neighbours fear Islamic State and other radical Islamists are seeking to exploit a power vacuum in the oil-producing nation.
The recognised government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni, which has been forced to work from the east since a group known as Libya Dawn linked to Misrata seized Tripoli last August, said Islamic State had executed 14 soldiers on a road north of Sabha, the main city in the south.
"Members of IS staged an attack . . . during which they executed 14 members of the Libyan army belonging to the infantry battalion 168," the government said, asking the international community to lift an arms embargo to help fight what it called terrorists.
A website called Islamic State in Libya claimed responsibility for killing 12 soldiers at the same location and posted a picture purporting to show the execution of one soldier.
A rival Libyan parliament in Tripoli denounced the killing, a Tripoli-based news agency said.
The US military is monitoring a nascent effort by Islamic State to train a couple of hundred fighters in eastern Libya, the commander of US forces in Africa said last month.
Thirteen Egyptians were reported kidnapped in the Libyan city of Sirt, adding to seven that went missing last week in the country, Egypt's state news agency said.
Egypt has supported the recognised Libyan government, even carrying out air strikes against Libya Dawn.
The 13 reported kidnapped on Saturday were Coptic Christians and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry had met with senior church officials on Saturday amid efforts to solve the crisis, Egyptian state news agency MENA said.
Magdy Malik, a Christian activist in Egypt, said that gunmen stormed a residence for expatriates in Sirt and abducted the 13 Copts.
Seven Egyptian Christians were found shot execution-style on a beach in eastern Libya last February.
Local reports have said a Coptic doctor and his wife were murdered in their home in early December, with their daughter's body later found.
A formal diplomatic mission to retrieve the Egyptians would be difficult because much of Libya falls outside of the officially recognised government's control, an Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman said on al-Hayat, a state-owned television station. Egypt - whose ambassador was abducted last year - no longer has an embassy in Tripoli.
Troops loyal to Mr Thinni said they had attacked a rival force which three weeks ago tried to seize the Sidra oil port. Sidra and the adjacent Ras Lanuf oil ports have been closed since the clashes started.
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