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Heavy Airstrikes on Edge of Libyan Capital

Heavy Airstrikes on Edge of Libyan Capital
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Heavy Airstrikes on Edge of Libyan Capital

Heavy Airstrikes on Edge of Libyan Capital

The Libyan National Army intensified on Friday its airstrikes on positions held by forces loyal to Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of the Government of National Accord, on the edge of the capital Tripoli, forcing thousands of civilians to flee.

The LNA which is led by Khalifa Haftar was fighting GNA troops in the southern suburbs of the capital Friday about 11 kilometers from the city center.

An LNA warplane bombed the camp of a force allied to Sarraj in Zuwara, west of Tripoli towards the Tunisian border, an LNA military source and residents said.

A fighter jet also attacked the only partly functioning airport in Tripoli, Mitiga, witnesses said.

The United Nations said the fighting had driven 8,000 people from their homes and that "displacements from areas affected by the clashes in and around Tripoli continue to surge".

The World Health Organization (WHO) also warned that the fighting may result in a deadly outbreak of several infectious diseases if the displaced consume dirty water.

WHO said it has delivered trauma kits and medicines to hospitals, adding: “These supplies will last for two weeks, the acute phase.”

After a week of fighting, 75 people have been killed and 323 wounded, including seven civilians killed and 10 wounded, Dr. Syed Jaffar Hussain, WHO representative in Libya, told a Geneva news briefing by telephone from Tripoli.

Meanwhile, the general prosecutor in eastern Libya issued arrest warrants against Sarraj and 23 other military and GNA officials.

He accused Sarraj and his associates of seeking to incite civil strife in the country, forming illegal organizations and carrying out terrorist acts.

Also Friday, the chairman of state oil company NOC, Mustafa Sanalla, renewed his warning that the fighting could wipe out crude production.

“I am afraid the situation could be much worse than 2011 because of the size of forces now involved,” Sanalla said.

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Head of ISIS in Iraq and Syria Has Been Killed, Iraqi Prime Minister Says

This handout picture released by the Iraqi Prime Minister's press office shows Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) meeting with Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in Baghdad on March 14, 2025. (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Iraqi Prime Minister's press office shows Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) meeting with Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in Baghdad on March 14, 2025. (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Press Office / AFP)
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Head of ISIS in Iraq and Syria Has Been Killed, Iraqi Prime Minister Says

This handout picture released by the Iraqi Prime Minister's press office shows Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) meeting with Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in Baghdad on March 14, 2025. (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Press Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Iraqi Prime Minister's press office shows Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (R) meeting with Syria's interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani in Baghdad on March 14, 2025. (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Press Office / AFP)

The head of ISIS in Iraq and Syria has been killed in Iraq in an operation by members of the Iraqi national intelligence service along with US-led coalition forces, the Iraqi prime minister announced Friday.

“The Iraqis continue their impressive victories over the forces of darkness and terrorism,” Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Abdallah Maki Mosleh al-Rifai, or “Abu Khadija,” was “deputy caliph” of the militant group and as “one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world," the statement said.

A security official said the operation was carried out by an airstrike in Anbar province, in western Iraq. A second official said the operation took place Thursday night but that al-Rifai's death was confirmed Friday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

The announcement came on the same day as the first visit by Syria’s top diplomat to Iraq, during which the two countries pledged to work together to combat ISIS.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein said at a news conference that “there are common challenges facing Syrian and Iraqi society, and especially the terrorists of ISIS.” He said the officials had spoken “in detail about the movements of ISIS, whether on the Syrian-Iraqi border, inside Syria or inside Iraq” during the visit.

Hussein referred to an operations room formed by Syria, Iraq, Türkiye, Jordan and Lebanon at a recent meeting in Amman to confront ISIS, and said it would soon begin work.

The relationship between Iraq and Syria is somewhat fraught after the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Al-Sudani came to power with the support of a coalition of Iran-backed factions, and Tehran was a major backer of Assad.

The current interim president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani and fought as an al-Qaeda militant in Iraq after the US invasion of 2003, and later fought against Assad's government in Syria.

But Syrian interim Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani focused on the historic ties between the two countries.

“Throughout history, Baghdad and Damascus have been the capitals of the Arab and Islamic world, sharing knowledge, culture and economy,” he said.

Strengthening the partnership between the two countries “will not only benefit our peoples, but will also contribute to the stability of the region, making us less dependent on external powers and better able to determine our own destiny,” he said.

The operation and the visit come at a time when Iraqi officials are anxious about an ISIS resurgence in the wake of the fall of Assad in Syria.

While Syria’s new rulers have pursued ISIS cells since taking power, some fear a breakdown in overall security that could allow the group to stage a resurgence.

The US and Iraq announced an agreement last year to wind down the military mission in Iraq of an American-led coalition fighting the ISIS group by September 2025, with US forces departing some bases where they have stationed troops during a two-decade-long military presence in the country.

When the agreement was reached to end the coalition’s mission in Iraq, Iraqi political leaders said the threat of ISIS was under control and they no longer needed Washington’s help to beat back the remaining cells.

But the fall of Assad in December led some to reassess that stance, including members of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of mainly Shiite, Iran-allied political parties that brought al-Sudani to power in late 2022.