Libyan Army Liberates Last Stronghold of Extremists in Benghazi

Brigadier General Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for the Libyan National Army. (AFP)
Brigadier General Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for the Libyan National Army. (AFP)
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Libyan Army Liberates Last Stronghold of Extremists in Benghazi

Brigadier General Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for the Libyan National Army. (AFP)
Brigadier General Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for the Libyan National Army. (AFP)

The Libyan National Army has declared the liberation of Sidi Akribish in Bneghazi, purging the last stronghold of extremist groups.

In July, General Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), announced liberating Benghazi from terrorist groups. In June, he urged the special forces to advance and proceed in the battles in the downtown and al-Sabri.

The army forces are fighting armed militias in the second biggest Libyan city, under a wider struggle that has been ongoing since ousting Gaddafi in 2011.

Brigadier General Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for the Libyan National Army, said in a press conference late Wednesday that the security authorities have recordings that prove the cooperation between Qatar and Qaeda. He added that elections, planned for 2018, should be monitored by international observers to ensure integrity. He also said the army will secure polling stations across the country.

Mesmari urged the parliament to accelerate the issuance of the elections law which will introduce citizens to their rights and duties in these elections, stressing that the military institution can’t be ruled but by a “civil elected leadership”.

“We should give the Libyan people the freedom to express themselves through ballot boxes,” Mesmari said, underlining that elections should enjoy transparency and integrity.

Further, Fayez al-Sarraj Government of National Accord called on the Italian government to find a mechanism to return Libyan players who are sentenced for 30 years in prison in Rome for accusations of illegal immigration and human trafficking.

In another matter, a source from the National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced putting down a fire that started after exploding a pipeline for transferring crude oil near Marada. Mesmari considered it a terrorist operation, adding that terrorists who fled to the west of the country are being pursued.

He saw that the purpose is to destruct the country’s possessions and create an economic chaos for the sake of prolonging the Libyan crisis duration.



Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
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Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli airstrikes on Sunday killed at least 29 Palestinians, including six children near a water distribution point.

The attacks came with apparent deadlock in a week of indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in the territory.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Gaza City was hit by several strikes overnight and in the early morning, killing eight, "including women and children" and wounding others.

An Israeli airstrike hit a family home near the Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Gaza City, resulting in "10 martyrs and several injured", Bassal said.

In central Gaza, six children were among eight people killed when a drone "hit a potable water distribution point in an area for displaced people" in the Nuseirat camp, he added.

Several other people were wounded, he said.

In the territory's south, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, according to the civil defense spokesman.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza, more than 21 months into the war triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack.

On Saturday, the military said fighter jets had hit more than 35 "Hamas terror targets" around Beit Hanun in northern Gaza.

The vast majority of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties.