Libyan Crisis

PapaDragon wrote:

higurashihougi wrote:Same news, from RT

https://www.rt.com/news/333082-us-raid-libya-serbians-killed/

@Militarov, PapaDragon: My sincere condolences to your country.

Thank you.

This unbelievable, kidnapped by ISIS an then killed by USA in the end.

Do those morons ever think before shooting or does their life expectancy somehow reduce unless they blow something up?

What was so urgent to bomb in that backwater that couldn not wait for some basic checkup? Like they are some bomb-vampires or something...

Angry as sh*t ATM.

The US forces are renowned for 'shoot first, ask questions later'. This attitude isn't helped by the use of gungho National Guard pilots. A lot of the coalition deaths in Afghanistan for example were the so-called 'friendly fire' from US goons. The 'Collateral Murder' leaked video from Iraq 2007 is a fine example of the US mentality in action.

RIP to the killed Serbians.

If those hostages had been citizens of a western country they would have tried to rescue them instead of just bombing the whole thing.

Karl Haushofer wrote:If those hostages had been citizens of a western country they would have tried to rescue them instead of just bombing the whole thing.

Serbs are not worthy of rescue operation judging by NATO.

Militarov wrote:

Karl Haushofer wrote:If those hostages had been citizens of a western country they would have tried to rescue them instead of just bombing the whole thing.

Serbs are not worthy of rescue operation judging by NATO.

And yet the Serbian government wants to join the EU and the NATO. Do they think that the West will see Serbs as their equals if Serbia joins the EU and the NATO?

Karl Haushofer wrote:

Militarov wrote:

Karl Haushofer wrote:If those hostages had been citizens of a western country they would have tried to rescue them instead of just bombing the whole thing.

Serbs are not worthy of rescue operation judging by NATO.

And yet the Serbian government wants to join the EU and the NATO. Do they think that the West will see Serbs as their equals if Serbia joins the EU and the NATO?

All non-US NATO members are expendable. From the start, the intent was to force the then USSR to target closer threats leaving the US unharmed. That changed somewhat when ICBMs came along but the principle still holds. The other important aspect is mandatory US weapons purchases to keep the US MIC alive.

PapaDragon wrote:

higurashihougi wrote:Same news, from RT

https://www.rt.com/news/333082-us-raid-libya-serbians-killed/

@Militarov, PapaDragon: My sincere condolences to your country.

Thank you.

This unbelievable, kidnapped by ISIS an then killed by USA in the end.

Do those morons ever think before shooting or does their life expectancy somehow reduce unless they blow something up?

What was so urgent to bomb in that backwater that couldn not wait for some basic checkup? Like they are some bomb-vampires or something...

Angry as sh*t ATM.

You have our deepest condolences for this tragic and senseless loss.

Libyan Troops Reclaim Key Port From Daesh

The Libyan army has regained a strategic port near Libya’s second-largest city of Benghazi from Daesh jihadists, Arabic media reported Sunday, citing the Libyan military press service.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Troops launched an assault on Daesh positions in the port of Mreisa some 15 miles southwest of Benghazi, which served as an arms and ammunition supply point for the Islamist fighters, according to the Erem News online publication.

One of the extremists’ leaders and an undisclosed number of fighters have been killed in the operation.

The Libyan armed forces lost at least 30 troops during the advance, dubbed "The Blood of Martyrs," in and around Benghazi.

Daesh has gained a foothold in the North African state after the 2011 toppling of long-time Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and subsequent political and security turmoil.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/africa/20160221/1035135377/libya-troops-port-daesh.html#ixzz40obSrYE8

Karl Haushofer wrote:

Militarov wrote:

Karl Haushofer wrote:If those hostages had been citizens of a western country they would have tried to rescue them instead of just bombing the whole thing.

Serbs are not worthy of rescue operation judging by NATO.

And yet the Serbian government wants to join the EU and the NATO. Do they think that the West will see Serbs as their equals if Serbia joins the EU and the NATO?

Serbs lack financial stability of Western countries, and that drives them towards EU, NATO and similar organisations, even more politicians. Majority of population supports Russia, however if you ask them would you join some Euroasian organisaton or European Union, you would get in 85% of cases answer EU, because they want to gtfo from Serbia and go work in Germany, France, UK, Italy, Austria... And our politicians think that NATO and EU see us as equal, which is rarely the case.

Serbian prime minister Vučić, claims that after talks with "American" officials he was reassured by them that NATO officers did not know about Serbian hostages in bombed facility.

And that is it. Our Great Leader Vučić said the word. Now whole thing is to be forgotten. Amen.

Source: http://mondo.rs/a877572/Info/Srbija/Oteti-Srbi-ubijeni-Vucic-razgovarao-sa-americkim-zvanicnicima.html

"An airplane carrying the remains of Serbian citizens Sladjana Stankovic and Jovica Stepic landed at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport at 19:25 CET on Tuesday. Stankovic and Stepic were employees of the Serbian embassy in Tripoli, Libya. The bodies were first flown from Libya to Istanbul aboard a Maltese airplane.

State broadcaster RTS is reporting that the autopsy documents issued by Libyan authorities do not list the cause of death, but rather enumerate and describe the injuries sustained by the victims. New autopsies will be performed in Belgrade. Stankovic and Stepic were kidnapped from a convoy of diplomatic vehicles in Sabratha, Libya, last November, and were held hostage until February 19, when they died during an air strike carried out by the United States, targeting an Islamic State site near the town. Earlier in the day, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic announced that the aircraft transporting the bodies would be touching down in Belgrade in the evening, and pointed out to "the enormous efforts that have been made for the plane to take off from Tripoli."

"Our company did not get permission for overflight. All day we worked on it, the Libyan government was offering its plane, we wanted to send ours, we were not allowed neither," Dacic has been quoted as saying by Tanjug. He "added that only during the night permission was received to engage a plane to transfer the bodies to Istanbul, from where they will be delivered to Serbia on a regular flight to Belgrade." Dacic also said that "those who abducted and killed them" are guilty for the deaths of Stankovic and Stepic.



In reference to the November kidnapping, the minister said that "our diplomats had no permission to leave Tripoli, procedures were not respected." But he spoke against the introduction of "red herrings" and rejected the claims that "arms trade" was taking place. "They certainly did not trade in arms," Dacic stressed. "If procedures had been followed, it certainly would not have come to this," he added, noting that a working group and state organs would "determine all the circumstances." Dacic also said that Serbia is seeking an investigation into whether the U.S. knew that the Serbian nationals were at the site targeted by the air strike. "The Americans say that they did not know, but give us the evidence - our services say that they had informed them," Dacic said, adding, "obviously a mistake was made."



Speaking about the two killed embassy staffers, Dacic said: "They would be alive if they had not been killed in the air strike." Dacic also announced that Serbia's ambassador in Tripoli will be "withdrawn" and added that the possible closure of the embassies in Syria and Tunisia should also be "seriously considered - bearing in mind a lot of are people are there, and there are also economic interests."

Source: http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2016&mm=02&dd=23&nav_id=97135

Doom and Gloom: Libya Imploding Into Chaos Five Years After NATO Bombings

Five years after NATO bombings of Libya ousted the country’s veteran ruler Muammar Gaddafi and left the once-prosperous country in ruins, the North African state is being turned into a terrorist stronghold and is facing a possible military invasion by the West.

The country is also facing a growing threat from Daesh, which is looking to capitalize on the lack of political stability and political infighting.

While the UN is trying to restart the political process in Libya, Western airstrikes on “terrorist targets” have resumed and chances of a full-scale ground invasion by US-led coalition forces look high.

After five years of “democratic reforms” Libya is plagued by instability and civil war. Battles for control of the country’s main cities between militias loyal to two rival governments in Tripoli and Tobruk have internally displaced hundreds of thousands of Libyans.

Meanwhile, a political and security vacuum in the country has allowed Daesh to gain a strong foothold on the shores of the Mediterranean and amass a force of more than 6,000 fighters.

Decimated by Russian airstrikes in Syria, the jihadists started looking for a new base and the war-torn Libya may become a perfect choice.

If most of Libya falls into the terrorists’ hands Europe would face a new wave of refugees.

“There are about 2.4 million internally displaced people and foreign refugees in Libya and these people desperately need humanitarian assistance, UN deputy special envoy to Libya, Ali Al-Zaatari, said, adding that all these people could start moving towards Europe any time now.

Even worse, Libya could become a Daesh hinterland and a jumping-off ground for attacks on its neighbors. It could also pose a terrorist threat to and even an invasion of Western Europe.

Small wonder that Western strategists are now seriously mulling a ground operation in Libya with “unofficial” French, British and US commando units already on the ground there.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/africa/20160319/1036585647/libya-nato-chaos-.html#ixzz43iDkqDM5

Libya - Tribes, Militia, Interests And Intervention

by Richard Galustian

It is something that had never happened in any country since the formation of the United Nations. The UN has, without an election, created unilaterally its own government for a country, and then immediately recognized it. The Government of National Accord, the GNA for Libya is a government based in exile and not elected but chosen by the "International Community".

A concerted effort over Easter for the GNA in exile in Tunis to 'take power' in Tripoli failed completely despite the spin and false optimism of the UN and the U.S. and UK in particular.

Let's rewind a little.

The recent United Nations plan to bring peace to Libya and eliminate ISIS was/is a two stage process fraught with great risk, uncertainty and is poorly thought out.

First is to persuade Libya’s factions to unite under a Government, the GNA while it is in exile. Second, to provide weapons, training and air support for a newly united Libyan army to attack ISIS.

These are totally unrealistic expectations that will never happen.

The background needs to be understood. The critical fact being that Libya’s main factions are divided into two very loose camps.

One camp supports the elected parliament, the House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk. The other is made up of the previous parliament, the General National Congress (GNC) and supports 'Libya Dawn', an Islamist-led coalition of militias that include the extremist elements of the Muslim Brotherhood and former Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) revolutionaries. The LIFG is an al-Qaeda offshoot.

Civil war began in July 2014 when 'Libya Dawn' seized Tripoli by force after the elections saw sharp losses for the Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies including notably former leader of the LIFG, the infamous Abdel Hakim Belhadj, currently suing in the London Courts the then Foreign Minister and MI-6.

The HoR won international recognition straight after the UN announced its election was free and fair, but under intimidation (that's when Islamists destroyed Tripoli International Airport etc) from militias, the HoR fled east to Tobruk.

To further complicate the situation one must realize that within these two camps are a lattice work of rivalries and tribal divisions.

Libya has no ‘third force’ of police or army acceptable to all sides. The militias are the third force! Essentially they represents 'guns for hire'. The army and police are first and second.

The problem for the international community is while destroying ISIS is their stated priority, both Libya’s rival camps see each other as the greater threat. ISIS is a threat, but neither camp believes it is an existential threat, so the priority for both camps is fighting each other.


1 ISIS in Libya
1.1 In Derna,1.2 In Sirte,1.3 In Sabratha
2 Tobruk (HoR) Government Forces
2.1 Regular forces, 2.2 Petroleum Facilities Guard, 2.3 Zintan + Warshefa militias
3 'Libya Dawn'
3.1 'Libya Dawn' - Pro GNA militias, 3.2 'Libya Dawn' - Anti-GNA militias
4 Prospect of a Divided Country
5 Deployment of International Military Forces
6 Divisions among Outside Powers
7 Military Training
8 Other Factors
8.1 Sanctions - stop and search ships and planes, 8.2 Muslim Brotherhood, 8.3 Libyan Institutions, 8.4 Benghazi
Conclusion

Link: http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/03/richard-galustian-on-libya.html#more

Libya’s Deep State Is Back And Wants The World To Know It
Libyan spies emerge from the shadows to talk about what it’s like to fight a secret war against ISIS. Borzou Daragahi travelled to the Mediterranean island of Malta for a rare meeting with the men who run the feared mukhabarat.

SLIEMA, Malta — A pudgy, graying middle-aged man in a brown sweater vest sat quietly sipping tea in the hotel lobby. If you noticed him at all, you might have thought he was a businessman, or an engineer, maybe a mid-ranking civil servant. He frowned occasionally as he contemplated the messages on his smartphone.
He allowed a smile as two men approached. They greeted each other as old friends, exchanging embraces, asking after relatives. One of the men complained a little about the state of business in the region, and warned he might have to head off at some point: “My daughter has a ballet recital.”
The entourage moved to a darkly lit corner of the hotel, their voices dropping, sometimes to a whisper. They looked up with paranoid glares each time a waiter or hotel guest walked by. The three men knew they could never be too careful.
The newcomers were retired colleagues; the first, a balding man in his sixties, works for a charity that helps African migrants in Libya; the second, in his late forties, is a real estate developer, dividing his time between the Libyan capital, Tripoli, and Europe.
But this was no workaday meeting of middle-aged businessmen. The three men are operatives from one of the most feared institutions in the Middle East: Libya’s mukhabarat, or intelligence agency. Formed shortly after the Second World War, the mukhabarat has worked behind the scenes to monitor and manipulate Libya for decades. And they have now joined the war against ISIS, as well as al-Qaeda and loyalists to the former regime of Muammar al-Qaddafi. They have made many, many enemies over the years.
“Extremists are extremists,” said the man in the sweater vest, a senior ranking official of the agency’s counter-terrorism division. “It doesn’t matter if they’re government militias, ISIS, or Qaddafi loyalists. In my focus, I target them all. Political extremists are all the same. And I want stability.”
Faced with the rising threat of ISIS, authorities in Tripoli have allowed the country’s dilapidated professional spy service to reassemble. In the last 18 months, the mukhabarat has begun to tighten its grip on security matters across much of the country. It has grown to much of its capacity under Qaddafi and is conducting investigations, running operations, and re-establishing ties with foreign intelligence agencies, including those of the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Italy, France, Malta, Spain, Turkey, Tunisia, Austria, Serbia, Jordan, and Morocco.
“The old channels are still there,” said the senior mukhabarat official. “Some embassy types are still in Tripoli. The French, Americans — all have assets in the city. We even give them permits to carry guns and have nondiplomatic license plates. The guys who deal with us are Americans.”

http://www.buzzfeed.com/borzoudaragahi/libyas-deep-state-is-back-and-wants-you-to-know-it#.go4mA7Vq4n

One of Libya's Governments Says to Step Down

Libya’s unrecognized Tripoli-based government, one of the two in the country, has announced it was stepping down.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Since 2014, there have been two governments in the country, a self-styled and more influential National Salvation Government in the capital city of Tripoli, and Council of Deputies in the eastern town of Tobruk that won a parliamentary majority at the June 2014 elections and has been recognized by the international community. In December, they agreed to create a Government of National Accord to end the political struggle.

"We inform you that we are stopping our work as an executive power, as the presidency, members of parliament and ministers of the government," the statement by the Tripoli-based government said, as quoted by the BBC on Tuesday.

The statement comes almost a week after several members of the Libyan UN-backed Presidential Council, which heads Libya's interim Government of National Accord, arrived in Tripoli.

Libya split following an Arab Spring protest that led to a civil war in 2011 and the overthrow of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/africa/20160406/1037547956/libya-government-steps-down.html#ixzz457kDHduY

Libya Takes Huge Step Towards Reconciliation With Presidency Council

The arrival of Libya's Presidency Council in Tripoli on Wednesday is a positive step in the Libyan peace process that promises to form a united government, Libyan journalist Hend Ali al-Honi told Sputnik.

The arrival of Libya's Presidency Council, the formation of which was brokered by the UN in Morocco in December, is a step towards reconciliation but after years of war and foreign interference Libyans are adopting a wait-and-see attitude to the new government, Libyan journalist Hend Ali al-Honi told Sputnik Arabic on Thursday.

"It is obvious that international pressure has produced the situation in Libya. The country has been suffering from this complicated conflict and war for years," al-Honi said.

"We are waiting until a clear image appears. We want to know what their interests are; will their interests serve Libya as one united government and maintain its territorial integrity?"

Al-Honi said that many Libyans aspire to the unification and reconciliation of Libya, and that the arrival of the Presidency Council is a step in this direction.

"It is possible that this authority will fail, but it is good for the country; we were afraid of the division of Libya. It is in the interests of Libya to be in harmony with each other and be united."

"The arrival of the members of the Libya Council won’t cause escalation of the political situation in Libya, because there are many who want conciliation."

"Many areas in Libya, not only Tripoli, aspire to conciliation and want the best for the country. Besides, many militant groups and militia declared their loyalty to the Libyan army, as happened in the eastern parts of Libya."

When it comes to Libya, Italy should carefully consider its military plans, as its intervention could make matters worse and turn the already volatile North African nation into complete chaos, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told the Italian daily La Repubblica in an interview.

The agreement aims to put Libya back on the path of building a democratic State based on the principles of inclusion, human rights and the rule of law, after four years of factional fighting that has killed many Libyans and left nearly 2.4 million in desperate need of humanitarian aid.

Since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011 two rival governments have formed in Tobruk and Tripoli, and many areas of the country are under the control of local administrations and militias who don't answer to any central administration.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/africa/20160401/1037320120/libya-reconciliation-presidency-council-arrives.html#ixzz457kWUaXf

DOK-ING MV-4 Mine Clearance System captured from the Islamic State in Benghazi. Its produced by private Croatian company, was used as base for Uran vehicle series in Russia too.

UK special forces have recently carried out “black ops” attacks against Daesh stronghold of Sirte, on the Mediterranean coast, using Electronic Warfare to shut down ISIS communication network in Libya.

The “highly sophisticated” jamming strikes were led by a RAF RC-135W “Airseeker,” one of the three ex-USAF KC-135 tanker converted starting back in 2011 by L-3IS in Greenville, Texas, at a cost of around 650 million GBP (950M USD).

Indeed, the operators aboard the British Rivet Joint first tuned into the militants preferred frequencies and then used the high-powered transmitters to broadcast interference on the same wavelengths, drowning out the enemy’s conversations on the battlefield.

Whilst the RC-135 jammed the Daesh frequencies from off the Libyan coasts, aboard HMS Enterprise, a GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters which is the centre for UK’s Signal Intelligence – SIGINT – activities) cyber-warfare team gauged the response to last week’s jamming strike by monitoring exchanges online between IS leaders – who are believed to be in command of up to 6,000 jihadists in Libya.

A defense source told the Daily Mail that the IS fighters “were very angry and couldn’t understand what had gone wrong. We jammed the frequencies for 40 minutes – long enough to prove the capability, but not so long that IS realized what was happening.”

The RC-135W is an intelligence gathering plane that usually monitors communications: the aircraft is equipped with all sorts of antennae and sensors, to eavesdrop enemy signals, transmissions, detect frequencies used by radio and radars and pinpoint sites of interest, mobile stations, SAM batteries, etc.

But, according to the source it also features active EW capabilities and the aircrews “occasionally use jamming strikes to spread confusion among their ranks at vital times.”

https://theaviationist.com/2016/05/19/the-brand-new-raf-rivet-joint-aircraft-fried-daesh-communications-with-massive-jamming-attack-in-libya/

DHC EO-5B 'Special Electronic Mission Aircraft' over Benghazi



And what seems to be Schiebel Camcopter S-100

What are claimed to be Delta Force and SOCOM members in Misrata:

US and Greek authorities in a joint operation intercepted a container carrying 26 million prescription opioid painkillers that were destined to be supplied to the Daesh jihadists by sea, Greek media reported Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to the Ekathimerini newspaper, the container with Tramadol was discovered by officers of the Greek Financial Crimes Squad’s narcotics unit and agents of US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The container, which, according to the declaration carried towels and tablecloths, had reportedly arrived from India last month and was expected to be delivered to Libya.

Last February, another container with opioid painkillers ordered by the same Libyan company with alleged ties to Daesh was confiscated in Dubai by the local authorities.

The Daesh is an extremist group active in Syria, as well Iraq and other regional states, notorious for its human rights atrocities and a number of major terrorist attacks, such as the ones carried out in Paris and Brussels. The group is outlawed in Russia, the United States and many other countries.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/world/20160603/1040736303/daesh-painkillers-greek-port.html#ixzz4AWRLK0TV

Libya Dawn operated 9P157-2 'Khrizantema-S' in action against the Islamic State in Sirte

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/1956553.html

it seems that the libyan forces have finally come round and attacked Daesh's sirte enclave before the beast could grow too much.

abu baker al baghdadi seems to be losing yet another of his "colonies" in a widespread implosion of the group.



Yet I think daesh will have a few surprises within the GCC nations and turkey in the near future.

Czech Republic reports mystery aircraft transfer to the UAE

Seven combat aircraft were transferred from the Czech Republic to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2015, according to recently released information that Prague submitted to the UN Office of Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) on its major conventional arms exports for that year.

The Czech submission to the UNODA did not identify the aircraft and the UAE's military is not known to have taken into service any combat aircraft that were either used or made in the Czech Republic.

The Army of the Czech Republic's website noted that the size of its Mi-24/35 attack helicopter fleet dropped by seven helicopters from 2013-14, and the UAE is suspected of buying the same types and transferring them to its allies in Libya in violation of the UN arms embargo on the North African country.