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U.S. Africa Command says that at least two MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets, possibly piloted by shadowy Russian mercenaries, have crashed in Libya. Jared Szuba, the Pentagon correspondent for AI-Monitor, Tweeted out that one of the jets was apparently lost on June 28, while the other went down on September 7, 2020. This information had come in a statement from Rear Admiral Heidi Berg, U.S. Africa Command's (AFRICOM) director of intelligence. Another tweet indicates that Berg believes that "Russian fighter aircraft," presumably MiG-29s too, but potentially also Su-24 Fencer strike aircraft, have conducted airstrikes in Libya. AI-Monitor's Szuba follows that up...

Turkey and Russia agreed on Wednesday to press for a ceasefire in war-ravaged Libya, but Ankara said the leader of the eastern forces was illegitimate and must withdraw from key positions for a credible truce to take hold. Moscow and Ankara are among the main power brokers in Libya's conflict while supporting opposing sides. Russia backs the eastern-based forces of renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, while Turkey has helped the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) repel Haftar's attempt to storm the capital. "We've just reached an agreement with Russia to work on a credible and sustainable ceasefire in Libya,"...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for supporting forces based in eastern Libya, after Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi met Libyan tribesmen who urged Cairo to intervene in the war. Turkey has been providing military aid to the United Nations-recognised government in the Libya conflict, while Egypt, the UAE and Russia have backed its foes in a rival administration based in the east. Recent weeks have seen dramatic military advances by the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), which drove back forces of the eastern renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar who had...

Egypt’s parliament voted on Monday to authorise the deployment of troops abroad in defence of the country’s national security, a move that could set the stage for a proxy war in neighbouring Libya between regional enemies Egypt and Turkey. A statement by the 596-seat chamber made no direct mention of Libya, but used language that clearly indicated that the decision was meant for the vast, energy-rich North African star. It said the 510 MPs present voted unanimously in support of the resolution... It said the authorisation for deploying troops abroad would be valid until their mission is completed... ...the vote,...

The Egyptian parliament will meet on Monday to discuss President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi’s decision to send ground troops into Libya reports Aawsat. The president, who is also the military’s chief of staff, still needs the approval of two-thirds of Cairo’s lawmakers as well as a recommendation from the national defense council before deploying military forces into combat missions on foreign soil. Sisi led a meeting on Sunday for the council to discuss the developments taking place in Libya as part of Egyptian efforts to “maintain the current frontlines” and prevent either side from breaching those red lines. The stated objective...

U.S. B-2 bombers carried out air strikes against Islamic State camps outside of Sirte, Libya, on Wednesday night, killing dozens of militants, U.S. defense officials said on Thursday. Two U.S. defense officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strikes were carried out 28 miles (45 km) southwest of Sirte against two camps and done in cooperation with Libya's U.N.-backed Government of National Accord. They said there were no women or children in the camps. One of the officials said initial reports showed dozens of militants were killed in the strikes with more than 100 precision guided munitions dropped....

An armoured vehicle of Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government is pictured during a battle with Islamic State militants in neighbourhood Number Three in Sirte, Libya October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny ************************************************************* TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libyan pro-government forces are advancing into the last area controlled by Islamic State in the coastal city of Sirte, surrounding the militants after a five-month campaign backed by U.S. air strikes, military officials say.At least eight pro-government fighters were killed over the weekend as their forces pushed into the 600 block, an area in central Sirte, with snipers and boobytraps posing the main obstacles...

Sirte, 450 km (280 miles) east of Tripoli, became Islamic State's largest outpost beyond its Iraq and Syria territory. It was taken last year by militants who profited from Libya's war among rival factions to gain control of territory and impose their hardline vision on the city. Losing Sirte would be a major setback for the group and a big blow to morale as it also struggles to hold ground in Iraq, where it has lost the city of Falluja and other territory to forces backed by U.S.-led air strikes. Islamic State are being squeezed by a tightening ring of...

Islamic State militants were retreating Thursday from their main bastion in Libya, as militiamen allied to a U.N.-brokered government pushed into the central city of Sirte, officials said. ...it was the only major IS-held city outside Syria and Iraq, and was seen as a possible fallback option for the capital of its self-styled caliphate. ...forces found sinks full of shaved-off beards, suggesting that the militants tried to get rid of their trademark looks before fleeing.

A mysterious sniper in Libya, known only as the “Daesh Hunter,” has been popping off ISIS baddies left and right. He has managed to kill 3 ISIS leaders in a mere 10 days. The sniper has been successfully racking up a huge body count in the Libyan city of Sirte, captured by ISIS last year. Unconfirmed social media reports that ISIS is now desperately scouring the city for the legendary “Daesh Hunter,” but to no avail. The mysterious sharp-shooters 3 biggest kills have been so far: Hamad Abdel Hady, an official in the Islamic State’s shariah court, was the first...

Work will begin in the coming days in Minya on a church that was planned to honour the deaths of 20 Egyptian Coptic Christians who died in a brutal sectarian attack by militants in Libya earlier this year. Plans and licences for the ‘Church of the Martyrs’ have been finalised to begin the work, head of the Samalout municipality in Minya said, as reported by MENA state news. Major General Gamal Mubaral Qinawy confirmed that the church will be built in the village of Al-Awar, in the district of Samalout. Qinawy said that work on the construction of the church...

Rut Roh – A “Refugee Relief Supply” cargo container arrives In Greece devoid of “Refugee Relief Supplies”… Watch the video to see what the “aid for Syrian refugees” was: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn-UCR5p0y0#t=10

Militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) seized a university in the Libyan city of Sirte, a faculty member and residents said, days after a video showed them staging a convoy parade. Islamist militants have made inroads into parts of the North African oil-producing country, exploiting a power vacuum created by a violent struggle for control between two competing governments. Also read: Exclusive: ISIS chief Baghdadi in new pictures The incident came after the coalition of Islamist militias in control of the capital Tripoli known as Fajr Libya (Dawn of Libya) said they were sending armed units...

Egypt says it has bombed Islamic State targets in Libya, hours after the group published video showing the apparent beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians. State TV said the dawn strikes had targeted camps, training sites and weapons storage areas. Earlier, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt had the "right to respond" against IS. A video emerged on Sunday showing a group wearing orange overalls being forced to the ground and decapitated. IS militants claim to have carried out several attacks in Libya, which is in effect without a government. "Egypt reserves the right to respond at the proper time and...

Egypt has offered to evacuate thousands of its citizens from Libya after Islamic State (Isis) released pictures showing 21 kidnapped Egyptian Christians paraded in orange jumpsuits. Egypt said it had no choice but take urgent measures on Friday with Isis expanding fast across Libya, its war-stricken neighbour. “We are helping them,” Cairo’s foreign ministry spokesman, Badr Abdelatty, said. “If they would like to come back from Libya, we are facilitating their return to their home country.” The Coptic Christian guest workers were kidnapped in Sirte, on Libya’s coast, by Isis units based there in two operations in December and January....

Islamist militants have abducted 20 Egyptian Christians in Libya in recent days, a source close to the government said Saturday. The source said the Ansar al-Sharia militia had kidnapped 13 of them on Saturday in the coastal city of Sirte and the rest of them there over the past few days. The identity of those kidnapped was not immediately clear, except that they were said to be Coptic Christians.

Masked gunmen in northern Libya have kidnapped 13 Coptic Christian workers from Egypt, just a week after seven others were abducted. Eyewitnesses in the city of Sirte said suspected Islamist militants went to a residential compound late at night and asked to see identification papers. Christians were then separated from the Muslims before reportedly being handcuffed and kidnapped. It is the latest in a series of attacks on Egyptian Christians in Libya. One witness said 15 masked gunmen went from room to room in the residential complex at about 02:30 local time (04:30 GMT) on Saturday morning. "They had a...

Well, well, well, so Obama has embarked on his third war in little more than two years. You've got to admit that "flexibility" is his middle name. Or at least one of his middle names: Barack Barry Hussein "Flexibility" Soetoro Obama, Jr. Those are the names we know so far, but The Donald thinks there might be more. Whodda thunk? Here we are barely into the first week of what started out as a "No-Fly Zone" and it is now turning out to be Air Al Qaida. Ten years ago, AQ had a mere four civilian airplanes to crash into...

How did Moammar Gadhafi die? The men who witnessed his last hours and the doctor who issued his death certificate have helped to provide insights into the dictator's final moments. It was a stupid idea from the start. It was his son Mutassim's plan, the son whose political judgment he had never thought much of. But the surprising thing was that Moammar Gadhafi paid attention to the idea. Let's go to Sirte, Mutassim had proposed, when the family was forced to flee from Tripoli in late August. No one would search for them in Sirte or even suspect that they...

A fuel tank exploded in Moamer Kadhafi's hometown Sirte killing more than 100 people less than a week after the deposed despot was captured and killed there, a military commander said on Tuesday. "There was an enormous explosion and a huge fire. More than 100 people were killed and 50 others wounded" in Monday night's blast, National Transitional Council commander Leith Mohammed told AFP. He said the scene was "a heart wrenching spectacle with dozens of charred bodies." The explosion happened as a crowd of people waited near the fuel tank to fill up their cars.