Benghazi: Libya’s internationally recognized government appealed to Arab countries to carry out air strikes against the local Daesh affiliate which is expanding its hold on the coastal city of Sirte.
The statement late Saturday came after the Daesh affiliate seized control of a new neighborhood in Sirte. The militants shelled the area, killed a senior cleric and hung the bodies of prisoners over bridges.
“The Libyan government, unable to ward off these terrorist groups because of the arms embargo, and out of its historic responsibility toward its people, calls on brotherly Arab countries ... to launch air strikes against specific targets of (Daesh) locations in Sirte in coordination with our concerned bodies,” the statement said.
The government also condemned the failure of the international community to take action against the group’s rise in Libya.
The Arab League said it will hold an emergency meeting on Libya on Tuesday.
Egypt has joined Libya’s government in calls for international intervention there against Daesh. Egypt has carried out air strikes inside Libya, including in February after Daesh terrorists killed 21 Egyptian hostages there.
The Daesh affiliate posted pictures on social media showing booty it seized from the neighborhood in Sirte, including vehicles and ammunition.
Fighting began earlier this week after a rival Islamist group, backed by a local tribe, refused to pledge allegiance to Daesh and called for a revolt.
Residents fled as Daesh terrorists took over the area. Awad Salem, whose family remains in the city, said Daesh fighters seized homes, refusing to allow residents to return until they search them for weapons.
Libya has slid into chaos since the 2011 overthrow and killing of longtime dictator Mu’ammar Gaddafi. It is now divided between an elected parliament and government in the east, and an Islamist militia-backed government based in Tripoli.
In the past few days, Daesh has crushed a revolt by a Salafist Muslim group and armed residents trying to break its grip on the city, located some 500 km to the east of Tripoli. As many as 70 people have been killed, according to residents.
As a warning to others, Daesh killed four fighters from the rival side and hung their corpses on metal gibbets for public display, four residents told Reuters. Pictures on social media, whose authenticity could not be verified, showed two bodies hanging from a gibbet.
Daesh terrorists, who have gained a foothold in Libya by exploiting chaos and a security vacuum, also destroyed houses in Sirte belonging to rival fighters, residents said.
In separate violence on Sunday, unknown gunmen fired on the airport of the main eastern city Benghazi, partly destroying a passenger terminal, the airport’s director said. The airport has been closed since last year due to ongoing fighting between forces loyal to the official government and Islamist groups.
Rockets also landed in a residential district in the eastern city of Derna, from which Daesh was expelled by a rival group in June, residents said. Daesh started an offensive last week to try retake the port city, a hot spot for jihadi fighters.
The internationally recognised government has been based in eastern Libya since losing control of the capital Tripoli a year ago to a rival group, which set up its own administration.
On Saturday, the official government asked fellow Arab states to stage air strikes against Daesh in Sirte, Gaddafi’s hometown, which neither Libyan government controls.
The Arab League will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday in Cairo to discuss the situation in Libya, Egyptian state television said.
