Field commanders in Benghazi, mostly from Awaqir tribe, demanded on Thursday full disclosure of the investigations into the escape of ISIS militants from Benghazi and Derna.
In a video statement, the commanders of around 15 armed groups said assassinations and murder have returned to Benghazi after the ISIS escape from the city.
“Security situations have deteriorated and assassinations and bombings have returned to the city,” they said, demanding the truth behind the escape.
Earlier this year, ISIS militants operating in Benghazi were allowed a safe corridor to leave the city into the desert. Several activists accused Dignity Operation’s Saiqa Force of facilitating the escape.
In 2015, ISIS militants escaped from Derna, driving through a desert road for a distance of about 400 km to Sirte, without being intercepted by Dignity Operation checkpoints.
The Awaqir commanders indicated that they had lost so many fighters in the ongoing fight in Benghazi and said that their hands are stretched out to all Libyan people for reconciliation.
“We do not recognize any party speaking on our behalf and we will not allow anyone to use our blood for personal benefits,” they said.
Reacting to the humiliating treatment of House of Representatives speaker Aqailah Saleh during Dignity Operation celebration of the third anniversary, the commanders showed their full support to Aqailah Saleh as “the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the Libya Army,” and warned what they called “the parliament traitors” of doing any harm to him.
Sources revealed that there are attempts by Dignity Operation hardliners in the parliament to topple Aqailah Saleh in order to cancel the position of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces because it overlaps with Khalifa Haftar’s title “the Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan Army.”
Last Friday, Awaqir tribe leader Braik Al-Lwati was killed in a car bomb explosion in Benghazi, raising questions over security situations in the city and the beneficiaries of his killing.
