By Maha Sulaiman.
Benghazi, 24 January 2015:
Despite the ceasefire announcements by both Libyan National Army and Central Libya Shield, one of the . . .[restrict]main elements in Libya Dawn’s Operation Sunrise forces, fighting in the Ben Jawad area west of Sidra has continued unabated.
According to a source close to Operation Sunrise, the clashes on the front line 25 kilometres west of Sidra have been fierce as Sunrise continues to try moving east to the oil port and to Ras Lanuf beyond it. They in turn are being bombed by LNA aircraft. The source also reported that the small town of Ben Jawad itself is largely deserted. Most of the residents had fled to Ajdabiya and Brega, he said. Just a few sympathisers of Libya Dawn had remained. The town itself had also been bombed, he claimed, suffering considerable damage.
Yesterday, there were reports from LNA sources of Scud missiles landing near Ras Lanuf. The source claimed that they had been fired by Misratans, but said they fell on open ground and that no damage have been done.
There has been no independent verification of the claim. [/restrict]
