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Clashes in Sirte, Sarraj Discusses with Military Commanders Unifying Army

Fayez al-Sarraj addresses a news conference at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 2, 2017. Reuters
Fayez al-Sarraj addresses a news conference at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 2, 2017. Reuters
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Clashes in Sirte, Sarraj Discusses with Military Commanders Unifying Army

Fayez al-Sarraj addresses a news conference at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 2, 2017. Reuters
Fayez al-Sarraj addresses a news conference at the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 2, 2017. Reuters

Clashes erupted Tuesday between the Libyan UN-backed government forces and militants in Sirte city, and eight of the gunmen were arrested.

"Members of the security force of Sirte suffered minor injuries after besieging a site in Jaref area in Sirte and clashing with an armed group. Eight gunmen were arrested," the government forces of Sirte said in a statement on Tuesday.

The media center of the government forces, headed by Fayez al-Sarraj and part of what is known as al-Bunyan al-Marsous operation, did not specify the identity of the detained militants or reveal whether they belonged to ISIS, which controlled the city, or any other groups.

Notably, the statement said that copper stores and power cables were found in the site.

ISIS affiliates in December 2015 were defeated and expelled from Sirte, some 450 km east the capital Tripoli, by forces allied with the UN-backed government and backed by US air force. After that, the remaining ISIS militants fled to southern valleys and mountain areas.

The terrorists set up mobile security checkpoints from time to time on the road leading to southern cities and checked civilian cars passing by, in search of soldiers or security personnel to kidnap.

On the other hand, and upon the surprising visit of Malta’s Foreign Minister Carmelo Abela to Tripoli, Sarraj expressed his government's desire to develop channels of communication between the two countries to coordinate the smuggling operations and support cooperation in the political, economic and service fields.

Minister Abela expressed Malta’s desire to have a Maltese Resident Ambassador present in Tripoli once again in order to make cooperation and assistance more effective, efficient and tangible.
Malta had withdrawn its ambassador in the wake of continued violence in the Libyan capital.

Sarraj also met on Monday military officials in the presence of members of the committee, which represented his government in meetings held in Cairo recently, with a delegation of the national army led by Haftar, to discuss the unification of the military establishment in the country.

Sarraj’s office issued a statement explaining that during a meeting with the Chief of Staff and leaders of his military establishment, Sarraj stated that the course of unification of the army will be completed successfully by means of a political consensus.

He pointed out that for a unification to be successful, Libya needs to halt the actions of some political and military players that are continuously attempting to disrupt and undermine efforts to achieve this consensus.

The meeting also discussed the findings of the Presidential Council’s committee at the Cairo meeting with their counterparts from the eastern region to discuss the unification of the military establishment in Libya and its relationship with the civil authority.

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Cutting Off Rhinos' Horns is a Contentious Last Resort to Stop Poaching. New Study Found it Works

A de-horned rhino grazes in South Africa's Pilanesberg National Park, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
A de-horned rhino grazes in South Africa's Pilanesberg National Park, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
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Cutting Off Rhinos' Horns is a Contentious Last Resort to Stop Poaching. New Study Found it Works

A de-horned rhino grazes in South Africa's Pilanesberg National Park, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
A de-horned rhino grazes in South Africa's Pilanesberg National Park, Feb. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Cutting off the horns of sedated rhinos with a chainsaw has been viewed by wildlife conservationists in Africa for more than 30 years as a necessary evil to save the iconic endangered species from poaching.

They hoped the drastic action was working, but evidence was scarce.

Now, a study published Thursday in the academic journal Science has found that dehorning rhinos has led to a large reduction in poaching in game reserves in and around the Kruger National Park in northern South Africa — an area that's home to 25% of the world's rhinos and is especially vulnerable to poaching.

The results of the seven-year study that ended in 2023 are seen as long-awaited evidence that removing rhinos' horns — which needs to be done every one to two years because they grow back — helps them survive, even if the animals lose part of their makeup.

Consistently reduced poaching The conclusions seem obvious. Lucrative illegal markets in parts of southeast Asia and China crave rhino horns for use in traditional medicines, and removing the rhinos' horns take away what poachers are after.

But Tim Kuiper, a biodiversity scientist at South Africa's Nelson Mandela University and the lead author of the study, said it was new to have long-term data from multiple sites on dehorning rhinos. He said the study, conducted between January 2017 and December 2023, focused on 11 reserves in the Kruger area and compared data from eight that dehorned their rhinos against the three that didn't.

It also analyzed data from the reserves before and after they dehorned their rhinos.

The study showed that dehorning consistently reduced poaching, Kuiper said. It found that the dehorning of more than 2,000 rhinos resulted in a 78% reduction in poaching in those eight reserves, providing some confirmation that such an invasive intervention was worth it.

“It is a big part of what a rhino is, having a horn,” The Associated Press quoted Kuiper as saying. “So having to remove it is kind of a necessary evil, if I can put it that way. But it’s very effective. There’s no doubt it saved hundreds of rhinos' lives.”

South Africa has the largest numbers of black and white rhinos. Namibia, Zimbabwe and Kenya also have significant populations. There are around 17,500 white rhinos and 6,500 black rhinos left in the world, with black rhino numbers reduced from 70,000 in 1970 to less than 2,500 by the time poaching reached a crisis point in the mid-1990s, according to the Save the Rhino organization.

Dehorning was not always accepted Dehorning rhinos started in southern Africa as early as 1989. It has not been accepted without question.

There has been opposition from animal rights activists but also questions from conservationists over what impact it has on a rhino's wellbeing, and what a future might look like with more hornless rhinos.

Vanessa Duthe, a rhino researcher in South Africa not involved in the study, said rhinos use their horns to defend themselves against predators, to compete for territory and, in the case of black rhinos, to look for food. There is also evidence that dehorned rhinos adjust their movements to live in smaller ranges, she said.

She said conservationists don't know the full impacts of dehorning, but research had found it had no adverse effect on rhinos' breeding rates or mortality rates.

“What we do know is that the benefits of dehorning by far outweigh any ecological cost that we’re aware of today,” Duthe said. She said dehorning a rhino now takes around 10 minutes and the process causes minimum distress.

Blindfolds and earmuffs are put on sedated rhinos during dehorning, which also provides an opportunity to microchip rhinos and collect samples that aid research.

Only one part of the battle Conservationists agree that dehorning alone will not end rhino poaching and Kuiper said he saw it as a short-to-mid-term solution.

Other efforts like more effective law enforcement and better support for game rangers on the frontline are key.

While South Africa has helped pull rhinos back from the threat of extinction, more than 400 rhinos a year are still killed by poachers in the country.

The dehorning study was a collaboration between scientists from three South African universities, Oxford University in England and game reserve managers and rangers. It also involved the South African National Parks department, the World Wildlife Fund and the Rhino Recovery Fund.