By Noora Ibrahim.
Benghazi, 11 September 2014:
Commander of the Brega Martyr’s Brigade Mohamed Al-Araibi, more commonly known as Bouka, . . .[restrict]has been injured in an Operation Dignity airstrike in Benghazi.
A source close to the Araibi family told the Libya Herald that Bouka had been seriously injured in one leg after he was hit by shrapnel during a bombing raid over Sidi Khalifa two days ago. The source said while he did know Bouka was receiving treatment, he did not know where.
The Commander of Operation Dignity’s Airforce, Adam Saqr Geroushi, refuted claims that Bouka had been captured by the Karama Operation. However, he said that some of Bouka’s family had been negotiating with Operation Dignity through intermediaries from the Barasi tribe in Beida. Geroushi explained that many members of Bouka’s family who did not share his political allegiances were seeking amnesty for the militia leader.
Geroushi said as things stood Dignity was still pursuing Bouka as an enemy of the state.
Bouka’s Brega Martyrs Brigade is aligned with Benghazi’s Revolutionary Shura Council and the forces ranged against Operation Dignity. A former mechanic, he rose to prominence on account of his disheveled appearance and bizarre televised rants.
In April, Bouka was implicated in an attack on the General National Congress after a ramshackle coalition of brigades opened fire on the Congress building, apparently because their chosen prime ministerial candidate Omar Al-Hassi, who has now set up his own rival government in Tripoli, failed to win a vote.
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