The Libyan National Army is said to have massed 5,000 troops with tanks and artillery in the Brega area in preparation for a second counterattack on the RasLanuf and Sidra export terminals lost to Benghazi Defence Brigades-led forces on Friday and Saturday. There are reports that armed forces commander-in-chief KhalifaHafter made a brief visit to Cairo today. It is not known whom he met. Air force commander SaqrGeroushi who is believed to have suffered a heart attack yesterday is understood to have been flown to Cairo for treatment. The concentration of LNA units came as the air force continued air strikes against BDB positions in and around RasLanuf and Sidra. Meanwhile eight solders are reported to have been killed in a battle at Al-Uqaylah, the small town to which the LNA retreated after being pushed out of the two oil ports. Casualties among the BDB and their supporting forces are not known. LNA spokesmen Colonel Ahmed Mismari maintained that casualties had been high and that the BDB had been commandeering ambulances to ferry their dead and wounded away to the west. Despite or perhaps because of the urgent call on men and equipment to the west, LNA commanders appeared to have stepped up their operation to take the last parts of the 12 Apartment complex in Ganfouda, a battle which has now lasted over five weeks. It is claimed that an ammunition store was discovered today in one of the buildings. At the same time there has been shelling of Sabri, the downtown Benghazi militant stronghold which was also strafed by at least one helicopter gunship. UNSMIL chief Martin Kobler has today warned that the escalating battle in the Oil Crescent could ignite a wider conflict.
Related Posts:
