Gulf of Sidra, Cyrenaica and Benghazi
Attacks against current and former regime military personnel continue in Benghazi. On or around 27 August, Air Force Brigadier General Mahmoud Belrahouma was shot in the leg in Benghazi’s Gar Younes district. The shooting was reported to have taken place during an attempted carjacking and was likely criminal in nature. AP wrote on 2 September that an intelligence officer, Colonel Jumaa Al Kadiki, was killed when a bomb blew up his vehicle up in Benghazi. The explosion occurred on Gamal Abdul Nasser Street near the Tibesti Hotel. The report also claimed that another intelligence officer travelling with Al Kadiki was seriously injured. Both officers served under the Qadhafi regime.
On 27 August, The Brigade of the Free (Katibat Al Ahrar) joined the National Army structure. The brigade leader, Adil Al Hasi stated that the move was entirely voluntary and was initiated by the brigade command. This is being seen as a positive move as the brigade is one of largest rebel brigades in Benghazi. According to the Libyan daily Qurnina Al Jadida, Al Hasi called on all rebel groups to join the National Army or the Ministry of Interior; Al Hasi also warned that rebel groups that maintain their weapons outside of the state could be serving foreign agendas.
According to unconfirmed reports, the Deputy Interior Minister placed Benghazi on a state of maximum alert on 29 August, following a report of possible pending terrorist attacks in the city. Further reports on 30 August, claimed that around forty people were subsequently arrested in Benghazi in connection with attacks planned for 1 September, the symbolic date commemorating when Qadhafi came to power in a military coup. The exact details regarding the proposed attacks are unknown.
On 28 August, Iran’s Fars news agency reported that according to the latest information from the Libyan government, all of the seven Iranian Red Crescent workers who were kidnapped on 31 July in Benghazi by Islamists were alive and well. The news agency later reported that the Red Crescent workers had spoken via phone with their families on the morning of 31 August.
A National Security building in Tokra came under attack during the early hours of 29 August, by a gunman in a black car. The driver of the car, a former internal security employee under the Qadhafi regime, was arrested and his weapons confiscated. There were no reported injuries.
Libya’s official news agency, WAL, reported that a newly formed joint force tasked with patrolling the Libyan-Egyptian border from the coast to 60 km south of the Salloum border crossing had made several recent arrests including the recovery of large amounts of cash and an attempt to smuggle assault rifles and drugs into Egypt.
According to the Libyan Press Solidarity, an improvised explosive device (IED) was discovered by security forces behind a blood bank in Benghazi’s Sidi Hussein neighbourhood on 31 August. A security source was quoted as stating that the IED was wired to a mobile phone and weighed between four to six kg. The Libyan daily Irassa also reported the arrest of three people in Benghazi on 31 August, accused of armed robberies in the city’s Al Teria, Boufakhra, and Qanfoudza areas. The group had reportedly set up checkpoints to steal cars and personal belongings.