Italian-British force ambushed by IS in Libya
(Italian Special Ops troops.)
ISIS fighters smashed a force of Italian and British Special Ops troops on Wednesday, April 27 in the first battle of its kind in Libya,debkafile’s military and intelligence sources report. This battle will result in the delay of the planned Western invasion of Libya, as the encounter proved that European forces are not ready for this kind of guerilla warfare. The sources also said the planners of the invasion were surprised by the high combat skills of the ISIS fighters.
Our sources report the following details:
The convoy of Italian marines, British special forces and Libyan troops was traveling from the northwestern city of Misrata toward the ISIS stronghold of Sirte, located 273 kilometers to the southeast, when it was ambushed and hit hard by ISIS forces.
Italian troops were among those killed or wounded in the battle, but there is no information whether there were British casualties as well. Some reports say members of the Western force were taken prisoner by ISIS, although they have yet to be identified. It is possible that any hostages are from the Libyan National Army, a militia commanded by Gen.Khalifa Haftar, a Libyan who has American citizenship.
A joint command consisting of officers from Britain, France, Italy, Germany and the US that is responsible for planning the invasion of Libya, as well as the Italian and British defense ministries, imposed a media blackout regarding the battle.
On Monday, two days before the clash, the joint command convened in the German city of Hanover and decided to speed up preparations for the invasion due to deteriorating security in Libya.
According to the information fromdebkafile’s sources, vehicles packed with explosives drove up alongside the convoy transporting the Italian and British troops and blew themselves up. Suicide bombers then charged the force as other ISIS fighters shelled the convoy with mortars and strafed it with heavy machine gunfire. The Western force was only able to escape after Italian and French warplanes and attack helicopters intervened.