[World Bulletin] A warplane affiliated with forces loyal to Libyan general Khalifa Haftar struck two vessels carrying arms and ammunition off the coast of Darnah in the country's east, a Haftar aide said Friday."A warplane serving the [pro-Haftar] National Army hit two vessels bringing arms and ammunition to extremist groups in Benghazi," Saqr al-Garoushi, who commands Haftar's air force, told Anadolu Agency.
According to al-Garoushi, the airstrike came after the two vessels ignored instructions not to leave Ras al-Hilal seaport, located some 30km from Darnah.
"We will issue orders to close the Ras al-Hilal and Soussa ports in order to cut the extremists' supply lines from the east," he said.
"Anyone who dares approach the port will be hit from the sky," he said, accusing the Islamist Ansar al-Sharia militia of obtaining weapons from the Al-Qaeda network.
Hopefully, someone is walking that network backwards.
Last month, Haftar declared war on armed militias based in eastern Libya, vowing to "purge" the country of "extremists."
The Libyan government, for its part, has called the former general's campaign a "coup."
I call it doing the right thing in the face of badly splintered leadership.
After serving as army chief-of-staff under late strongman Muammar Gaddafi, Haftar spent nearly two decades in the United States in exile before returning to Libya in 2011 to join the uprising against Gaddafi. In February, the general prompted fears of a military coup when he appeared on television - in military uniform - to demand the dissolution of Libya's elected parliament and interim government.