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Libyan National Army Kills Senior Qaeda Operative

A historic mosque, that was damaged during a three-year conflict, is seen in Benghazi, Libya February 28, 2018. | REUTERS
A historic mosque, that was damaged during a three-year conflict, is seen in Benghazi, Libya February 28, 2018. | REUTERS
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Libyan National Army Kills Senior Qaeda Operative

A historic mosque, that was damaged during a three-year conflict, is seen in Benghazi, Libya February 28, 2018. | REUTERS
A historic mosque, that was damaged during a three-year conflict, is seen in Benghazi, Libya February 28, 2018. | REUTERS

The Libyan National Army (LNA) said on Friday they had killed a senior al-Qaeda figure in southern Libya, during an operation to secure oil and gas assets and fight militants in the south.

LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari said they had killed Abu Talha al-Libi, a commander in al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and two other militants near the city of Sabha,

He named the others as Abdullah al-Desouki, an Egyptian, and al-Mahdi Dangou, a Libyan also known as Abu Barakat, who a Libyan official had previously said had links with ISIS.

Qaeda and ISIS have been using southern Libya as a base for attacks in Libya and neighboring countries, exploiting a security vacuum created by the overthrow of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in a 2011 rebellion backed by NATO air strikes.

ISIS stepped up attacks in Libya, including the capital Tripoli, in recent months after regrouping in the south having lost its main base in the coastal city of Sirte in late 2016.

The LNA, which is led by Khalifa Haftar, sent troops to Sabha this week, triggering speculation they might be headed for the El Sharara oilfield, some 250 km (150 miles) away.

The 315,000-barrels a day El Sharara oilfield has been closed since December due to a protest by tribesmen and state guards demanding salary payments and development in the area.

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West Bank Palestinians Say Haniyeh Killing Will Not Affect Fight with Israel

(FILES) Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh talks to reporters after his meeting with Egyptian officials in Gaza City, 12 February 2006. (Photo by Mohammed ABED / AFP)
(FILES) Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh talks to reporters after his meeting with Egyptian officials in Gaza City, 12 February 2006. (Photo by Mohammed ABED / AFP)
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West Bank Palestinians Say Haniyeh Killing Will Not Affect Fight with Israel

(FILES) Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh talks to reporters after his meeting with Egyptian officials in Gaza City, 12 February 2006. (Photo by Mohammed ABED / AFP)
(FILES) Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh talks to reporters after his meeting with Egyptian officials in Gaza City, 12 February 2006. (Photo by Mohammed ABED / AFP)

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank condemned the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas who was killed in Iran on Wednesday, but said it would have little effect on the movement.
Israeli officials have not so far claimed responsibility for the killing of Haniyeh, who had been in Tehran for the inauguration of the new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and there has been no official comment from the government, said Reuters.
But few doubted that Haniyeh, the public face of Hamas who took the top job in 2017, was the latest in a string of Hamas leaders to have been killed by Israel.
"We woke up this morning to a tragedy for the Palestinian people," said Fawzi Nassar, a resident of the southern city of Hebron.
"He is not the first one they assassinated - there were many leaders in the past like Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and others, but that will not affect our steadfastness," he said, referring to the founder of Hamas who was killed by an Israeli helicopter gunship in 2004.
Palestinian factions called for a day of protest and a general strike in the West Bank and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction is a political rival to Hamas, condemned the killing, which Fatah called a "heinous and cowardly act".
Although the West Bank is under the nominal leadership of the Palestinian Authority, run by Fatah, opinion polls show support for Hamas is strong.
"His assassination will not affect the party because the party is not a new one," said Suheil Nasrelddin, a resident of Hebron. "They have a lot of leaders, even the youngest child is a leader."
The West Bank has been in turmoil since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel which sparked Israel's invasion of Gaza, with regular raids by Israeli forces in cities across the area.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, many of them armed militants but also many stone-throwing youths or unarmed protesters and uninvolved civilians.
"The Israeli crime of assassinating Ismael Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, will not break the Palestinian resistance or the Palestinian people's determination to achieve our freedom," said Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian politician who heads the Union Of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees.
"Of course it will escalate the situation," he said. "And this is what Netanyahu wants, he knows that the end of this war is the end of his political career."