An Al-Qaeda leader in Libya, known as Abu al-Zubair al-Libi, was killed on Sunday during a raid by the Libyan National Army (LNA) in Hijara neighborhood in Sabha, according to a statement by LNA Spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari.
Al-Karama Operation Room of the LNA announced the killing of al-Qaeda leader Adel Ahmad al-Abdali, the real name of Abu al-Zubair al-Libi, in the southwestern city.
The statement described Abu al-Zubair as a “highly dangerous terrorist,” who joined Al-Qaeda in Syria.
In 2004, he was deported to Libya and was imprisoned in Tripoli.
The statement said that after 2011, he became an active element in recruiting and transferring terrorists between Syria and Libya.
His relationship extends to al-Nusra Front in Syria and is linked to Abdel Moneim Hasnawi, known as AbuTalha, who was killed in an operation conducted by LNA forces on 21 January near Sabha to secure oil and gas assets in the southern region.
Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group take southern Libya as a base for attacks in the country and its neighbors, exploiting a security vacuum created by the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.
Hence, the LNA launched a military operarion in the southern region to fight terrorists in the area.
As part of the operation, the LNA has gained control on strategic locations in Sabha, including Sabha International Airport and some military camps formerly seized by armed groups, according to a Friday statement.
After taking control of the airport, the southwestern city’s historic Citadel and the Mountain Hotel on Thursday, the military units moved south of Sabha to seize the rest of the military camps, which the Chadian opposition had taken as a safe haven.
