Alleged ISIL militants capture radio station in Libya

A state-run radio station in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte has been captured by militants claiming to be members of the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group.

"They took Radio Sirte yesterday (Thursday). Since then they have been broadcasting (verses from) the Koran and speeches by (ISIL chief Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi," a Sirte resident told AFP on Friday.

Following the seizure, websites affiliated with the terrorist group released pictures of several armed men in a radio station, sitting in front of microphones and brandishing their rifles.

A former local official said the militants have also established their headquarters in the city center.

"They could take advantage of the absence of any central government authority to transform the city into an Islamic emirate as they did in Derna [an eastern Libyan city]," said the former official who declined to be named.

Sirte is partly controlled by the militant group Ansar al-Sharia. The city has been plagued by clashes between the Libyan army and militants fighting for the control of the Es Sider and Ra's Lanuf oil ports.

Back in January, Libya’s Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni warned that Libya may turn into a safe haven for Takfiri terrorists who currently control swathes of land in Syria and Iraq, thus posing a significant challenge to the security and stability of the world.

"We are afraid that the groups that are in Syria and Iraq will infiltrate Libya,” he stated.

Libya plunged into chaos following the 2011 uprising against the dictatorship of Gaddafi. The ouster of Gaddafi gave rise to a patchwork of heavily-armed militias and deep political divisions.

FNR/KA/SS

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