Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Libya’s military has become the target of major attacks by
Al Qaida-aligned militias.

Officials said the militias were well-armed
and believed to have been trained by Al Qaida over the last year.

On Oct. 5, at least 15 Libyan Army soldiers were killed during an attack on an outpost southeast of Tripoli. Officials said the attackers, who were not identified, used machine-gun mounted vehicles to strafe the Army installation in Wishtata.

“The ambush took place on the road between Bani Walid and the town of Tarhouna, where the army had a checkpoint,” Libyan Army spokesman Ali Sheiki said. “They came under heavy gunfire. Between 12 and 15 soldiers were killed.”

The attack was regarded as the bloodiest in the Al Qaida campaign on the
new interim government in Tripoli. Over the last four months, Islamist
militias have been targeting the Army, intelligence community and judiciary.

Hours after the attack, an Al Qaida commander was abducted by U.S.
special forces in Tripoli. The New York Times identified the man as Nazih
Abdul Hamid Al Ruqhay, also known as Abu Anas Al Libi, said to have helped
plan the bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

NATO has offered to train Libya’s military and police in an effort to
restore order in the North African state. But officials said the security
situation did not enable the presence of Western trainers.

On Oct. 5, the United Nations Security Council condemned an attack on
the Russian embassy in Tripoli three days earlier. Gunmen were said to have
opened fire on the embassy and several of them were killed.

“Such acts are unjustifiable regardless of their motivations, whenever
and by whosoever committed,” the Security Council said.

  Abu Anas Al Libi, Ali Sheiki, Bani Walid, Well-armed Islamists ambush Libyan military checkpoint, Wishtata