Haftar’s army announces detention of ISIS* militant from Syria in Tripoli

Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) said it had detained the militant of the Islamic State (IS)* terrorist group, who had arrived from Syria, in Tripoli.

“The Libyan Arab armed forces detained in Tripoli an ISIS* fighter from Syria, Muhammad ar-Ruweidani, also known as Abu Bakr al-Rouweidani, one of the most dangerous ISIS* fighters in Syria. He arrived in Libya with the support of Turkish intelligence as a commander of the Failak al-Sham group”, – the official representative of the LNA Ahmed al-Mismari wrote on Facebook.

According to him, the detainee “fought on the side of the formations of the Government of National Accord commanded by Turkish officers”.

After the overthrow and assassination of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya virtually ceased to function as a single state. Dual power reigns in the country now. The parliament elected by the people sits in the east, and in the west, in the capital Tripoli, the Government of National Accord, headed by Fayez Sarraj, formed with the support of the UN and the European Union, rules. The authorities of the eastern part of the country operate independently of Tripoli and cooperate with the Libyan National Army, led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who has not stopped trying to capture Tripoli since April 2019.

* – A banned terrorist group in Russia.