Libya
Libya Militia Downs Helicopter, Killing 2 French Troops
Officials in Libya said on Tuesday that an Islamist militia shot down a helicopter outside the eastern city of Benghazi, killing two French special forces troops who were onboard. The officials, one an air force officer who knew of the helicopters' passengers and the other an official working for Western missions in Libya,...
Libya conflict: Government forces ‘advance’ against IS-held Sirte
Significant gains have been made by Libyan government air, sea and land forces fighting to recapture the central city of Sirte from so-called Islamic State, officials say. Forces allied to the Tripoli government assert they now have the upper hand. Warplanes bombed IS positions in Sirte while naval forces fired missiles into...
Migrant crisis: Many feared dead in shipwreck off Libya
Up to 30 migrants are feared dead after a boat capsized in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast while some 77 were rescued by EU naval units from the sea. Ships from an EU task force and Italy's coast guard raced to the scene 35 nautical miles (65km) off the coast as survivors clung to the hull or swam. The Italian navy...
Migrant crisis: UK to send second Royal Navy ship to Libya
The UK is set to send a second Royal Navy ship to the Mediterranean to help tackle people trafficking and arms smuggling in Libya, officials say. David Cameron told the G7 summit in Japan that the UK was ready to take an "active leadership role" in helping Libya deal with trafficking. The UK currently has one survey...
Libya unity government calls on international community for arms to fight Daesh
The Libyan unity government on Thursday called on the international community to provide it with arms to help fight Daesh. The government’s call comes hours after 32 of its fighters were killed in battles with Daesh, west of the coastal city of Sirte. The Associated Press quoted a statement by the government published on...
Migrant crisis: EU says numbers in Libya are alarming
Donald Tusk told MEPs that it would not be possible to apply the same approach used for the Balkans to unstable Libya. Italy's coastguard says 4,000 people were rescued from the Mediterranean between Libya and Sicily on Monday and Tuesday. Meanwhile, Macedonian police again fired teargas at migrants protesting at the border...
Former Ottawa man killed in Libya was not an extremist, spokesman says: ‘He was absolutely normal’
TORONTO — A former Ottawa resident killed in clashes in Benghazi was inside a building hit by a crude barrel bomb dropped by forces loyal to a Libyan general, a spokesman for a Canadian-Libyan group said Monday. “Apparently a bomb fell on that building and the building collapsed on them,” said Khaled...
Signs grow of new Western urgency to stop Islamic State in Libya
An hour's drive from the Libyan city of Sirte, a few dozen troops man outposts along a desert road. They are hoping the West will soon be giving them more help to fight a common enemy: Islamic State. Armed with little more than gun-mounted pick-up trucks, they are a last line of defense against the Sunni Islamist group...
Blaming The Islamic State, The US Is Considering Fresh Military Actions In Libya
Pentagon looking at ‘military options’ to stop Islamic State from gaining more ground, four years after US air campaign helped topple Libyan dictator Gaddafi The Pentagon is considering fresh military action in Libya more than four years after conducting an air campaign that helped topple dictator Muammar Gaddafi, a...