Free Republic

Hundreds of Russian military contractors in Libya were evacuated on Monday after retreating from fighting on the capital's front lines, forces backing the unity government said. The claim comes after a series of setbacks for eastern-based military commander Khalifa Haftar's year-long offensive to seize Tripoli from the UN-supported Government of National Accord (GNA). "An Antonov 32 military cargo plane landed at Bani Walid airport to resume the evacuation of Wagner [Group] mercenaries who had fled southern Tripoli to an as-yet unconfirmed destination," pro-GNA forces wrote on Twitter. Pro-GNA forces said Monday some "1,500 to 1,600 mercenaries" had fled from the...

Fighters yelling "Allahu akbar (God is greatest) and "Today Bani Walid is finished" sought to make their mark with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades on a town they say still provides a refuge to many of the overthrown Libyan leader's followers.

Gadhafi Loyalists Still Battling New Western-backed Rulers in Libya Written by Alex Newman A year after the execution of former Libyan despot Moammar Gadhafi at the hands of Western-backed rebels, forces opposed to the new Tripoli-based regime ruling parts of Libya are still fighting on. According to news reports, assorted Libyan militias supposedly aligned with the embattled new government have been shelling the Gadhafi-loyalist stronghold of Bani Walid all weekend in a bid to quash the late dictator’s remaining die-hard supporters. Officials with the new government said the fighting reflected the fact that not all of Libya had been “liberated”...

Gaddafi stronghold Bani Walid falls Bursts of machine-gun fire fill the city centre as Libyan fighters celebrate the apparent end of six-weeks of battles. Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reports from Bani Walid, which fell to Libyan fighters on Monday after heavy fighting Fighters belonging to Libya's ruling National Transitional Council have captured the town of Bani Walid, one of two last remaining strongholds of the country's deposed leader, Muammar Gaddafi. NTC military commanders said on Monday that they were encountering pockets of resistance in the town, located about 170km southeast of Tripoli. But they said they had claimed about 95...

Loyalist forces of dictator Muammar Gaddafi have started a counter-offensive to retake the Red Valley region near their stronghold Sirte, a spot that the Libyan rebels claimed to have conquered a day earlier. Gaddafi forces are reported to have fired rockets and artillery shells to recapture Red Valley, 60 km east of Sirte, and one of the lines of defense for the Gaddafi troops in Sirte, Al Jazeera reported. The even though the rebel government, the Transitional National Council in Libya, announced the capture of Red Valley on Thursday, sporadic fighting continued on Friday morning. The fighting near another one...