By Libya Herald reporters.
Benghazi and Tripoli, 16 August 2015:
More evidence, including defections and the deadly flight of a top commander, has . . .[restrict]today emerged suggesting a rift within the Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council, pitting IS and Ansar Al-Sharia fighters against other members of the group.
Last night, a senior BRSC commander, Sulaimon Buazza drowned when apparently trying to escape the fighting in Sabri from the beach. Reports remain unclear but it seems that the glass fibre craft, described by one source as a yacht, caught fire and capsized. It appears that there were others on the vessel, including women and children and that seven of the children died. One report has mentioned 84 people aboard.
The Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council today released a statement mourning Buazza’s death and vowing to avenge it. This suggests that the vessel’s sinking may not have been an accident. However, it is not clear if the boat was set ablaze because it was spotted and fired on from IS positions on the shore. Pictures of the bodies of the seven children, have been posted on social media.
For a senior commander to be quitting Sabri might indicate that there is a more general decamping of non-IS and Ansar fighters.
The Libya Herald has been told that the eight members of Libya Shield No.1, part of the BRSC, who were taken prisoners earlier this week, actually arranged to surrender to the army. It is understood that the information that they provided on the conditions inside the beleaguered Sabri and Suq Al-Hoot districts was given voluntarily.
Heavy fighting in Sabri continued today but with no reports of any army advances. For the last month, the main thrust has continued to be to try and cut the Jumhouriya Hospital Road that leads toward the Suq Al-Hout. This would isolate fighters in Sabri from reinforcement from the small port of Mreisa, leaving only a vulnerable beach open for their supply. The major action today came from the air force which flew missions throughout the day bombing positions in Sabri. One Leithi resident told this paper “I don’t know how many airstrikes there were, but aircraft flew in overhead many times”.
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