(MENAFN- Arab Times) Islamic State militants have seized another town in Libya, the group and a military source said on Friday, expanding the territory they control in the strifetorn country. The militant group, which controls large parts of Iraq and Syria, has exploited a security vacuum in Libya as two rival governments struggle for power, four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. Islamic State took over the city of Sirte on Libya's central Mediterranean coast in stages this year, occupying government buildings and last month the city's airport.
The group has now also taken over the town of Harwa to the east of Sirte, according to a statement posted on social media. A military source confirmed militants were controlling Harwa, adding they had taken over government buildings. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the killings of dozens of Egyptian and Ethiopian Christians, the storming of a luxury hotel in Tripoli and attacks on oilfields as well as suicide bombings in several cities.
The group has a strong presence in the eastern city of Derna and has carried out suicide attacks in Benghazi, the main eastern city. Elsewhere, an international military intervention is needed to end unrest in Libya, where the Islamic State group is gaining a foothold, Spanish Defence Minister Pedro Morenes said in an interview published Saturday. "We went to Afghanistan to stop all of that from coming here, we are in Iraq, Mali or Somalia with the same objective. And now we have it nearby.
Something needs to be done," he told the top-selling Spanish daily El Pais when asked if there would be a military intervention in Libya. "I asked (EU foreign policy chief Federica) Mogherini in Singapore (last weekend) and she said: 'It seems unbelievable that there are still nations that object (to an intervention). Think of Syria. For four years we have watched them massacre each other while the (UN Security Council) is blocked by vetoes. This is the world we live in'." Morenes reiterated Spain's support for an Italian proposal calling on the US-led coalition that is fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq to expand its operations into Libya.
Coalition
"There is not a coalition to fight against Daesh in Iraq or in Syria, there is a coalition to fight against Daesh full stop," he said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. "If the caliphate extends to Libya, the coalition will have to take action," he added. Meanwhile, Russia and China have blocked sanctions against two Libyans accused by the United States, Britain, France and Spain of undermining peace efforts in the deeply divided north African nation, UN diplomats said Friday. The four Western countries had urged the UN Security Council to impose an asset freeze and travel ban on the Libyans to send a signal ahead of new peace talks on June 8 "that spoilers of the political process will not be tolerated." Libya has been torn among powerful armed militias that have left the country with two rival parliaments and governments, while groups allied to the Islamic State extremist group grow in strength. Libya's UN Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi wrote a letter to council members Thursday opposing sanctions on Othman Mlekta, a militia commander whose forces ssattacked parliament in May 2014, and Abdulrahman Swehli, a Misrata politician who supports a rival government in the capital Tripoli run by Islamist-allied Misrata militias.
Russia said in its official response obtained by The Associated Press that it was placing "a technical hold" on the request to carry out an inter-agency review in Moscow, which the mission said applies in all sanctions cases. It noted the Libyan letter and complained about the rushed request. China also noted the Libyan letter in explaining its hold, adding that the political dialogue "is at a critical junction" and any actions by the sanctions committee should facilitate talks. "We should be very careful and take more time to consider this issue," China's UN Mission said. The Misrata militias pushed the elected parliament out of Tripoli and it now meets in the eastern city of Tobruk. Government forces and allied militias are also battling Islamist radical groups who operate in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city.
The UN envoy to Libya, Bernardino Leon, who has been mediating talks, has urged the warring parties to agree on a unity government before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on June 17. The next round of negotiations are scheduled to begin on June 8 in Rabat, Morocco. The United States said on behalf of the four countries in a note to council members that "a balanced and progressive approach to sanctioning spoilers - leaving more senior names for another time - could give a much needed push to those seeking to participate in Rabat."
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