Libya officials: French special forces on ground fighting IS

Islamic State affiliates in Libya briefly took over the security headquarters in the western city of Sabratha, killing and beheading 12 security officers before being driven out early Wednesday morning, two city security officials said.

Sabratha’s mayor, Hussein al-Thwadi, told Reuters that six members of the local brigades had been killed in clashes on Tuesday evening and 11 more were beheaded when militants entered the security directorate building in the city centre overnight before the brigades forced them out.

BENGHAZI, Libya-Libya’s internationally recognized government on Thursday denied reports that French special forces had been fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group in the troubled country, after the rival administration in Tripoli confirmed them.

French special forces were spotted in eastern Libya last week by specialist bloggers.

USA fighter jets struck an IS training camp in Libya last Friday in attacks that killed almost 50 people.

At the time, anonymous Pentagon sources acknowledged USA forces had been “in and out” of Libya for a long time.

The newspaper says French special forces have been operating in the east of the country since mid-February. France also established a military base in northern Niger, along the Libyan border, to facilitate the offensive.

A group of six United Nations human rights officers cited evidence of executions of captives, assassinations of prominent female activists, widespread torture, sexual crimes, abductions, indiscriminate military attacks on civilian areas, and abuse of children in Libya between 2014 and 2015.

There needs to be “patience and encouragement” to cajole the Libyan factions toward a unity government, an Italian defense official said, because that remains “the only road to go down”.

The article triggered an official probe in France into a possible leak of classified information. It has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks in the country. He said the French advisers were not fighting.

“When secret operations are taking place, the goal is to ensure they are not revealed for the security of the men and the operations”, said the source.

Libya has been grappling with violence and political uncertainty since former dictator Muammar Gaddafi was deposed and later killed in 2011 amid North Atlantic Treaty Organisation airstrikes.

But the former colonial power has insisted that coalition bombing must be requested by the yet-to-be-agreed unity government.