Military spokesman warns of possible infiltration of terrorists from Syria into Libya

TRIPOLI, Nov. 15 — A spokesman for Libya’s eastern-based army warned on Wednesday of a possible infiltration of terrorists from Syria to Libya after suffering losses there.

“The province of Idlib, north of Syria, currently has more than 18,000 terrorists of Libyan and other Arab nationalities. Information indicates that while the Syrian army continues to pressure them, they will be expelled to Sudan, and from there to Libya and other African countries,” Ahmad al-Mismari told a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Al-Mismari pointed out that the army is capable of conducting air and land reconnaissance operations to respond to any potential threat, despite UN ban of supplying arms to Libya.
The spokesman also announced that military trials of a number of detained terrorists started for the first time.

“One terrorist was sentenced to death for mass murder. Two terrorists were sentenced to 20 years in prison with hard labor. Another terrorist was sentenced to 10 years in prison for participating in terrorist acts, and 65 terrorist suspects have been acquitted,” the spokesman said.

Al-Mismari added that the court sentences were preliminary and can be appealed before the Supreme Court.
Thousands of detainees, who participated in terrorist operations, are in prisons of the Libyan army in eastern Libya, after many of them were arrested during the three-year war against the army in Benghazi.

Army Commander General Khalifa Haftar announced earlier in June the taking over of the entire city of Benghazi and defeating the rival armed groups. However, some militants still remain in the city and mainly use landmines. – XINHUA