Tanks War: T-55 tanks army Libya
A tank is a large type of armoured fighting vehicle with tracks, designed for front-line combat. Modern tanks are strong mobile land weapons platforms, mounting a large-calibre cannon in a...
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Tanks War: T-55 tanks army Libya - Video
19 November 2014 The head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) announced today that all parties to the conflict in Benghazi have agreed to an unconditional humanitarian truce to evacuate civilians and retrieve the bodies of the dead.
The truce, which was facilitated by the Mission, and announced by UNSMIL chief Bernardino Leone, commenced at 7 a.m. local time this morning, 19 November, for a period of 12 hours, subject to extension by the parties, according to a statement.
This humanitarian truce is critical to giving the people of Benghazi, where fighting has been the fiercest, a much-needed reprieve from violence, the Mission explained.
As agreed with all parties, the Libyan Red Crescent will evacuate civilians from the two affected areas, retrieve the bodies of the dead and facilitate the removal of sewage from the affected areas.
Civilians will also have the opportunity to attend to the injured and restock food and other necessary supplies.
In the meantime, UNSMIL continues to urge all parties to fully abide by their commitments during the truce. Since 2011 uprising that ousted former leader Muammar al-Qadhafi, violence amongst armed groups has spread throughout the North African country causing a humanitarian crisis.
According to numbers provided by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), at least 106,420 people had fled their homes in October alone. Since May, a total of 393,400 people have been displaced.
Earlier in the summer there seemed to be steps in the right direction with the election on 25 June of a national Parliament, a move the UN Mission hoped would thrust Libya toward political resolution.
However earlier this month, Libyas Supreme Court declared the national Parliament unconstitutional.
On 11 November, Fatou Bensouda, a Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) warned the UN Security Council about growing political instability in Libya. She said that the country is currently split with two governments vying for legitimacy.
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Libya: UN mission brokers critical 12-hour humanitarian truce in Benghazi
TRIPOLI, Libya, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The Islamic State has seized control of the coastal city of Derna on Libya's Mediterranean coast.
The terror group's trademark black flags are now flying over government buildings.
According to CNN, IS is in complete control of the city, located about 200 miles from the European coast. The Derna branch is composed of 800 fighters who operate six or so camps outside of town, with larger training facilities located in the Green Mountains.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed leader of IS, said in an audio recording posted online last week, "We give you good news by announcing the expansion of the Islamic State to new lands ... the lands of Al Haramayn [Saudi Arabia], Yemen, Egypt, Libya and Algeria."
Such expansion is made possible when often little known or relatively new jihadist groups announce their allegiance to IS, as was the case in Derna.
Majlis Shura Shabab al-Islam (the Islamic Youth Shura Council), founded in April, proclaimed allegiance to IS and announced in early October that territory it had seized in Derna was part of the IS "caliphate."
What's happening in Derna "could be a model for future acquisition of territory by the Islamic State beyond its base in Iraq and Syria," Aaron Y. Zelin, a fellow with The Washington Institute, wrote in a piece titled "The Islamic State's First Colony in Libya," published by the Washington, D.C.-based think tank in October.
Zelin noted that such a model for IS expansion differed from al-Qaida's practice of establishing "autonomous local franchise organizations" and acknowledged that oversight could be complicated. "Questions remain about the command-and-control capabilities that would be needed to realize such a scenario, as well as the logistics inherent in marshaling widespread foreign fighters and facilitation networks."
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Islamic State expands presence, seizes coastal city in Libya
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
(CNN) -- The black flag of ISIS flies over government buildings. Police cars carry the group's insignia. The local football stadium is used for public executions. A town in Syria or Iraq? No. A city on the coast of the Mediterranean, in Libya.
Fighters loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria are now in complete control of the city of Derna, population of about 100,000, not far from the Egyptian border and just about 200 miles from the southern shores of the European Union.
The fighters are taking advantage of political chaos to rapidly expand their presence westwards along the coast, Libyan sources tell CNN.
The sources say the Derna branch of ISIS counts 800 fighters and operates half a dozen camps on the outskirts of the town, as well as larger facilities in the nearby Green Mountains, where fighters from across North Africa are being trained.
It has been bolstered by the return to Libya from Syria and Iraq of up to 300 Libyan jihadists who were part of ISIS' al Battar Brigade -- deployed at first in Deir Ezzor in Syria and then Mosul in Iraq. These fighters supported the Shura Council for the Youth of Islam in Derna, a pro-ISIS faction.
The council had been competing for superiority with another militant group, the Abu Salem Brigade, some of whose fighters' loyalties lay with al Qaeda, according to Noman Benotman, a former Libyan jihadist now involved in counter-terrorism for the Quilliam Foundation.
Al Qaeda's top envoy in Libya, Abdulbasit Azuz, left Derna after U.S. Special Forces captured Ahmed Abu Khatallah, an alleged ringleader of the Benghazi attacks in June. Azuz is now believed to be in Syria, Benotman told CNN.
Amateur video from the end of October showed a large crowd of militants affiliated with the Shura Council for the Youth of Islam chanting their allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. The new ISIS wing in Derna calls itself the "Barqa" provincial division of the Islamic State, the name given to the eastern region of Libya when Islamic rule replaced the Roman Empire.
The Libyan branch of ISIS now has a tight grip on the city, controlling the courts, all aspects of administration, education, and the local radio. "Derna today looks identical to Raqqa, the ISIS headquarters town in Syria," Benotman told CNN.
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ISIS comes to Libya
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Libya Violence Suicide Attacker Strikes in Tobruk - Video