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GERMANY HAS BECOME the latest country to warn its citizens to get away from Libya and its escalating violence.
At least 38 people, mostly soldiers, were killed in 24 hours of fierce fighting between the Libyan army and Islamists in Benghazi, officials said today.
A military source said the clashes broke out yesterday when Islamist groups launched an assault on the headquarters of a special forces unit near the city centre, causing casualties among forces defending their barracks.
Benghazi’s main hospital said the bodies of 28 soldiers had been taken there in the past 24 hours, along with 50 injured, while Al-Marj hospital, 100 kilometres to the east, spoke of two soldiers dead and ten injured.
A spokesman for the self-proclaimed Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, an alliance of Islamic and jihadist militia who have claimed a number of attacks on military bases in the area, announced that eight of its fighters had died.
An AFP correspondent reported that several families could be seen leaving the area of the clashes, as loud explosions were heard in the city this morning. Near daily clashes take place in Benghazi and the latest came a day after the US evacuated its embassy in Tripoli due to fears for the safety of staff and as Britain joined the Americans in advising its citizens against travel to strife-torn Libya.
Germany has now joined these countries and many others that have warned citizens about the dangers they face in the country.
Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs had already advised against travel to Libya and warned Irish citizens to leave immediately.
- © AFP 2014 with additional reporting by Michelle Hennessy.
Well done NATO and the ‘West’. Turned a stable and prosperous country and the envy of Alfrica into a nightmare for citizens who now have no rule of law, no essential services, no freedom, no security and millions displaced.
The country is not officially a daily state.
The ‘humanitarian intervention’ was a fantastic success.
@Horgay, absolute rubbish. Was in Libya three weeks ago and have been back and forth there for 10 years. Libya has nobody to blame but itself here. Yes it was stable in the past because everyone was afraid of Ghadafi and his cronies. However now you have 6 million people with 6 million guns. You have tribes from different cities fighting each other over power. This latest crisis is due to Zintani rebels attacking and destroying the airport and 22 billion worth of planes because they want control over the airport. In Bengazi you have Islamist rebels fighting a former army general who is trying to restore order. There is no law because the average Libyan is not loyal to this new government they are loyal to their tribe.
Re amcgowan
That former army general you talk about is a CIA asset.
Also, that army general actually launched airstrikes on Benghazi killing lots of civilians.
Do you remember the whole point of the Western ‘humanitarian intervention’?
It was to stop possible airstrikes by Libyan planes on Benghazi? It was all over our papers and news channels. The danger to civilians by airstrikes on Benghazi.
Well, there was ACTUAL airstrikes on Benghazi a few weeks back, killing scores of civilians and it didn’t even make the news anywhere in the ‘West’.
I suggest you go back to grazing.
Horgan, that’s true! NATO showed off their fists in Libya and now they are quiet. Fool…
@horgay so you say this general is a CIA agent and is bombing civilians which was the reason the west intervened. Fare enough so the alternative was to keep the old regime which did Zero for the population in all its years of power?
I am not arguing that what Nato did was wrong and had ulterior motives, you seem to think that Ghadafi was better for them. Since the revolution the infighting between tribes and factions from Misarata, janzoura and Zintan etc for control of resources and power has caused destabilization. The Mafia which Ghadafi managed to control by force for years is now stronger than ever with their money making coming from smuggling alcohol into libya and immigrants from africa and syria to europe. Benghazi is a hornets nest of islamic fundamentalism where westerners are advised to stay away. My point is the current problems are due to Libyans and nothing to do with the West. They have their elections and choices but it is turning into a failed state where the law of the gun rules.
@horgay also try getting off your backside and going there and actually meet the people and talk to them. Nobody is pining for Ghadafi and his clan.
Look at http://www.libyaherald.com it at least has news daily about what is going on.
@ amigo. . Good comments from someone who seems to know with no particular axe to grind, , you see there is always a “we have to do something” to help, and often making a bad situation ten times worse, ad you said so many people in that area are loyal to their tribe first everything else comes a far second!
Re amcgowan
I would have to disagree with some of what you say.
I believe Libya was better off under Gaddafi. I believe Libya under Gaddafi was a beacon of light compared to the Mad Max situation today. Under Gaddafi Libyans had benefits, real economic and security benefits.
The first thing the new Libyan government at the time did was to create a central bank and issue debt.
There are other deeper issues involved here which you seem to be unaware of which is remarkable as you have said you traveller there lots.
@horgay as you say you believe, doesn’t mean to say you are correct does it? Its very easy to look from the outside and say this. Sure the poorest element of society had benefits but essentially they were paid off. His support soon disappeared when people were no longer scared. However NO free press, NO free speech, a state controlled economy and dissenters were repressed. During the dictatorship their was the Abu Salim prison slaughter where 1270 prisoners were killed. International terrorism etc. A beacon of light for African nations? For who other despots?
Libya has huge oil reserves yet where was the money that should have been spent on hospitals, schools, infrastructure? The Eastern region was neglected for years because of their resistance to Ghadafi.
The point I made above is that the current situation is not the Wests doing and Libya’s continued problems can only be solved by themselves. Your pining for Ghadafi is tantamount to wishing that Communism was back and good old Chairman Mao and Stalin were still around.
Lovely bit of foreign policy genius there Obama, NATO and all the rest.
These Islamists are a pain in the hole
They also thought the war in the North was just a spat between Catholics and Protestants.
Its rarely about Religion, its always about land and resources.
and people call Islam the beautiful religion of peace how can anyone defend Islam in this day and age with all the conflicts going on involving Muslims
@Sean O Sullivan
Most Muslims don’t support Islamic extremists, just like, in Northern Ireland, most Protestants don’t support Loyalist terrorists and most Catholics don’t support Republican terrorists.
As Malala Yousafzai, herself a victim of Islamic extremism, said, the word Islam means peace.
Sean, how can anyone defend Christianity with all the wars involving Christians? What about Judaism? Hinduism? Buddhism? Why would anyone bother defending humans when all wars involve humans? Clearly the human race as a whole is evil and sadistic, rather than just individuals who will manipulate anything to justify their goals and actions
how many people have been beheaded by Hindus Christians and so on recently how many have been beheaded by Muslims within the last few days 50 men were beheaded by isis within the last few days yes humans are the worst species on this planet but Muslims really are the most dangerous group of humans on this planet
China executes, by far, more people every year than every other nation. The US, Vietnam and North Korea are included in the top ten in the world.
Beheading may be gory, but there really isn’t any nice way to execute someone. It may be preferable to the US’s most recent botched attempt.
India hangs those convicted of capital crimes. This occasionally results in a prolonged agonising death for the convict and on occasion decapitation.
there’s a difference between executing criminals and murdering innocent people in the middle of a street
The barbarity as practised by Hamas/ Muslim Brotherhood/ISIS is happening all the time from the Philippines down to Nigeria and is coming to a neighbourhood near you soon.
And, of course, Gaza. You’re on the same page as Tehran there Foggy:-)
http://tehrantimes.com/politics/117307-israeli-atrocities-should-not-divert-attention-from-isil-crimes-legal-expert
Countries like the US Uk. Israel France. Don’t answer to anybody or their foreign policy cockups
Are they Islamist really or are they just trying to appear to be so as to give weight to their war ,when the IRA were at it up the north did the world think that all the Irish people were behind them ,just a thought
I reckon setting up a Jap import business over there might be the way to go, judging by the amount of Toyotas in their convoy.
Just a thought…..are the Muslims really just pissed off with Israel for what they have done in Palestine and their plans for further a field. Are they pissed of at US for their continued support for Israel. Has Amercia brought a lot of its problems to its own doorstep due to their support for Israel and the Jewish elite in US. Are Muslims really the aggressors? I am beginning to question a lot of what has been and gone in recent years. Thee are sinister forces at work and I don’t like it.
@Sean O Sullivan
That was done by a minority of Sunni Muslims. Furthermore, many of the victims of Sunni and Shia Islamic extremism are themselves Muslims.
That pic looks like a Drift event in Mondello.
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