Libya: Haftar Transfers War to Misrata

Chief of Libyan National Army (LNA) Marshal Khalifa transferred the war to liberate Tripoli to the western city of Misrata after his forces targeted military sites in the city for the first time.

Karama Operations Room media center, of the National Army, said in a statement that the bombing of Misrata came after a drone attack in the city, directed by Turkish officers brought by the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization.

The drone targeted a transport plane allocated by the General Command of the National Army to transport pilgrims from al- Jafra to Benina International Airport.

The statement explained that orders were issued to strike the source of the drone that committed this crime, pointing out that over ten carefully-selected targets were destroyed on Thursday, including operating rooms, ammunition depots for military sites in Misrata, including airforce academy and Sirte base.

The Operations Room stressed that the forces are adamant on eliminating the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization and all its “gangs”.

It denied allegations of targeting al- Jafra base saying they are fake achievements claimed by Brotherhood’s mouthpiece.

Since the liberation of Tripoli on April 04, LNA has refrained from bombing the Misrata airport, its ports and the steel factory. This was considered by some diplomats as a sign of its desire to reach an agreement with the city, whose fighters are the main force defending Tripoli, where armed groups are less organized and more prone to change allegiance.

Earlier, LNA media announced that the army’s defenses shot down the drone that was flown by terrorist militias and attempted to target the military in al-Jafra region, some 650 kilometers southeast of the capital.

Meanwhile, Libyan Red Crescent announced its rescue workers had recovered the bodies of 62 migrants a day after one of the deadliest shipwrecks this year in the Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, the Libyan Navy said in a statement that one of its patrols rescued 269 immigrants traveling on rubber boats about 100 km north of Garabulli, east of Tripoli.

The first boat had 182 illegal immigrants, including nine women and two children, according to the statement, which explained that immigrants were of different nationalities.

The statement added that another patrol of the Coast Guard rescued a rubber boat carrying 87 illegal immigrants, all men, 84 of which were Sudanese and three from Bangladesh. They were transferred to the Tripoli naval base.

For its part, the Libyan Navy confirmed there were 134 survivors and 115 missing, according to its spokesman Brigadier General Ayoub Kassem.

“Our teams have recovered 62 bodies of migrants from yesterday evening until this afternoon,” AFP quoted Abdel Moneim Abu Sabia, head of the exhumation team in the Red Crescent.