Haftar's Forces Killed Al-Qaeda's Commander Southern Libya

By Nawal Sayed

CAIRO, Jan. 19 (SEE) – The Libyan

National Army (LNA), led by General Khalifa Haftar, killed on Friday three

militants including a senior Al-Qaeda member in the south of the country days

after launching a security operation.

Ahmad

Al-Mesmari, a spokesman for Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army,

described the three as “terrorists” and identified them as Abdel Monem

Al-Hasnaoui, also known as Abu Talha Al-Libi, Al-Mahdi Dengo and Egyptian

citizen Abdullah Al-Dessouki.

FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar take part in a rally in Benghazi, Libya, December 17, 2017. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori/File Photo

Libya has

been gripped by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed Muammar Qaddafi

in 2011, with rival administrations and multiple militias vying for control of

the oil-rich country.

Haftar

supports an administration in the east of the country that is opposed to the

internationally backed Government of National Accord in Tripoli.

The LNA

said it was also looking to secure petroleum facilities and tackle flows of illegal

migrants heading northward to the Mediterranean coast. 

In another

regard, thirteen people were killed in the capital of Libya, Tripoli, after fierce

fighting between rival militias, the health ministry of Government of National

Accord (GNA) said on Friday.

The

ministry said that 52 people were injured in the fighting which flared up

Wednesday, shattering a UN-brokered ceasefire reached in September that ended

hostilities in the city.

Fighters of Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government take position near the front line of fighting with Islamic State militants in Ghiza Bahriya district in Sirte, Libya November 22, 2016. REUTERS/Hani Amara

“Tripoli,

after months of calm derived from the September ceasefire agreement, was two

days ago once more rocked by renewed clashes,” UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salama

told the Security Council in a briefing on Friday.

“We have

worked closely with all parties to stop breaches of the ceasefire from going

any further,” he said.

The

earlier bout of violence in Tripoli killed nearly 100 people.