General Haftar threatens to target ships entering Port of Benghazi, as PM Thani vows to cut ties with Qatar and Sudan over support for militias

Thank you, Chairman Royce, Ranking Member Engel, and Members of the Committee for inviting me to discuss the situation in Libya today and the Administration’s response.

Government forces loyal to a Libyan renegade general have used helicopter gunships to pound the ammunition sites of suspected militants in the eastern city of Benghazi.

A massive explosion in the Benghazi district of Buatni lit the night sky last night as Operation Dignity bombed Islamist positions across the city, including one large weapons store.

Libyan Army Chief-of-Staff Abdel-Razzaq Nazuri was reportedly accompanied by a high-level security delegation for scheduled talks with senior Egyptian officials on the latest developments in the North African country.

In Libya, regional players have been battling for influence, reportedly supplying militias with weapons and even conducting secret military operations in the country. An alliance of Islamists militias reportedly took over Libya’s capital, Tripoli, on Aug. 23; soon after, they stormed and “secured” a U.S. embassy compound in the city. …

A plane from the forces of renegade former Libyan general Khalifa Haftar crashed in the city of Tobruk on Tuesday, killing the pilot and a child, a security official said.

Twenty-five people killed in clashes between general Haftar’s troops and militia fighters in fight to control Benghazi airport

Libyan Chief of Staff Major-General Abdul Razzaq Al-Nazhuri met with Egyptian Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Mahmoud Hegazy on Wednesday to discuss cooperation between the two countries’ militaries in order to achieve stability in Libya. The meeting was one in a series of meetings that took place in Cairo this …

The democratically elected legislature in Libya just named Ansar al-Sharia a terrorist group as Islamists militias wreak havoc across the country.