US pulls military from Libya as fighting approaches Tripoli

Not the Maid of the Mist

Tripoli, Libya -- The United States has for the time being, withdrawn some of our military forces from Libya due to "security conditions on the ground," a top military official said. As it now stands, a Libyan commander's forces are advancing toward Tripoli, the capital, and are clashing with rival militias.

A small number of American troops has been in Libya in recent years. Their mission it to help local forces combat Islamic State and al-Qaida militants, as well as protecting diplomatic facilities.

"The security realities on the ground in Libya are growing increasingly complex and unpredictable," Marine Corps General Thomas Waldhauser, the head of US Africa Command, said.

"Even with an adjustment of the force, we will continue to remain agile in support of existing US strategy."

Gen. Waldhauser didn't provide details on the number of US troops that have been withdrawn or how many remain in the country, but if we wait long enough, the someone in government or media will leak it.

India has also evacuated a small contingent of peacekeepers and now it's quite likely that the remaining food in Libya for the military will be bland and tasteless.

The Indian foreign minister, Sushma Swaraj, said the country's 15 Central Reserve Police Force peacekeepers were evacuated Saturday from Tripoli because the "situation in Libya has suddenly worsened" and fighting has moved into the capital city.

The self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, launched a surprise offensive against the capital last week, a move that could potentially drag the country back into civil war. Libya has been gripped by unrest since the 2011 uprising that overthrew and killed long-time dictator and dramatic fop, Moammar Gadhafi.

In recent years, the country has been governed by rival authorities in the east and in Tripoli, in the west, each backed by various armed groups. "It's a mess," an anonymous source told Brain Flushings.

Fayez Sarraj, head of government in Tripoli, accused Hifter of "betraying" him.

"We have extended our hands towards peace, but after the aggression that has taken place on the part of forces belonging to Hifter and his declaration of war against our cities and our capital ... he will find nothing but strength and firmness," al-Sarraj said Saturday in televised comments, followed by a commercial for My Pillow.

Sarraj and Hifter held talks in Abu Dhabi in late February, their first confirmed meeting since November 2018, when they agreed that national elections were necessary, according to the UN, but alas, it doesn't look good for democracy after all.

Hifter is seeking to capture the capital and seize military control of the whole country before UN-sponsored talks due to start next week that were designed to set a time frame for possible elections in the oil-rich country.

"Elections are overrated," Hifter said.

The airport was destroyed in a previous round of fighting in 2014. Hifter said his forces had launched airstrikes targeting rival militias on the outskirts of Tripoli.

The rival militias [aka "The Good Guys"], which are affiliated with a UN-backed government in Tripoli, said they had also carried out airstrikes, slowing Hifter's advance.

Armed groups behind the UN-backed government of national accord, or GNA, have announced an effort to defend Tripoli, vowing to recapture all areas seized by Hifter's forces.


Col. Mohamed Gnounou, a spokesman for GNA forces, said in televised comments Sunday that the counteroffensive, dubbed "Volcano of Anger," was aimed at "purging all Libyan cities of aggressor and illegitimate forces." 

Hifter, for his part, calls his offensive "Lava of Revenge."

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