Arrest of Abu Omar: LNA deals painful blow to ISIS in southern Libya

Fatima Abdul Ghani

The painful strikes launched by the Libyan National Army (LNA) against terrorist groups continue until terrorism is eliminated in the country. In the latest operation carried out in this regard, the armed forces targeted a terrorist hideout in Ubari in the south after they detonated a storehouse that was intended to prepare terrorist elements with ammunition as part of the ISIS and al-Qaeda program to prepare a logistical support area in an attempt to re-position in the south and to carry out attacks against army forces and civilians.

LNA spokesman Colonel Ahmed Mesmari issued a statement explaining the details of the operation, saying, “In the framework of carrying out military and security tasks and duties, on Sunday at five in the morning, the Special Missions Operations Group of the General Command of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces carried out a qualitative operation in the city of Ubari, the Sharb neighborhood, targeting the leader of the ISIS organization, Mohamed Miloud Mohamed, known as Abu Omar, one of the most prominent ISIS leaders in Sirte when the organization took control of the city in 2015.”

Mesmari added that Abu Omar led terrorist operations, most notably the attack on the Oil Crescent. He was shot in the abdomen and was taken for treatment to the city of Al-Jufra, and then he returned to Sirte after his recovery. He received legal and terrorist courses at the hands of the terrorist organization’s most senior leaders in Sirte.

The LNA published pictures of the military operation, showing three people in civilian clothes, handcuffed, and a number of soldiers surrounding them, with an air bombardment carried out by Libyan army aircraft at dawn on Sunday targeting a number of sites in Ubari, including the Sharb neighborhood, where Abu Omar was arrested.

The Libyan Air Force launched air strikes on dens belonging to ISIS in Ubari, which resulted in their destruction and the killing of a number of ISIS members, as well as the explosion of an ammunition store.

Who is ISIS leader Abu Omar?

Mohamed Miloud Mohamed, known as Abu Omar, is one of the most prominent leaders of ISIS in Sirte during the organization’s takeover of the city in 2015, where he led terrorist operations, most notably his participation in the attack on the Oil Crescent. He also received training courses at the hands of ISIS leaders in Sirte, and he had a strong relationship with the emir of ISIS in Libya, Abu Moaz al-Iraqi, who was killed in the city of Sabha following a military operation by the LNA. Abu Omar returned to Ubari after the organization’s defeat in Sirte, where he formed a terrorist cell and carried out terrorist operations, including the kidnapping of four Italian engineers in 2016. He demanded a ransom of €4 million in exchange for their release, and the deal was concluded.

In 2019, Abu Omar met with al-Mahdi Dangou, known as Abu Barakat, in Ubari, and then he went to the city of Murzuq to meet with Abu Moaz al-Iraqi to coordinate military operations in the southwest of the country. He also has relations with Abu Walid al-Sahraoui, the emir of ISIS in Mali and Niger.