Libya: Tears of Sirte (سرت)

                                        Source of image:  Middle East Eye
          
Daesh occupied Sirte.  The once prosperous and pretty coastal city is now hell on earth, even worse than Daesh occupied areas of Syria and Iraq.


The ongoing ruination of Syria and Iraq has distracted the world from Libya, namely the city of Sirte, where the  scenario is just as gory if not more.

Sirte (northern Libya) is the birthplace of  Col. Muammar Gaddafi and also the place where he was brutally murdered by Al Qaeda (LIFG) terrorists after being tipped off by allied NATO forces flying illegally over Libya in October 2011.  Ever since, there has been no let up in the chaos and in February 2015 Sirte, which is closest to Libya's largest oil wells, got to see its worst nightmare come true.  ISIL established its "caliphate" in the port city, unleashing  havoc unprecedented in Libyan history!  Mainstream media surmises that the number of ISIL terrorists in Libya is close to 6,000.  That's a conservative estimate.  Six thousand would probably be snuggling in Sirte alone.  A young resident described life under ISIL in just one word - "unbearable."  Most residents of Sirte have left.  Those who don't have the money to flee are stuck.
                                     

                                   Crucifixion in Sirte carried out by ISIL

                                       Image source: Akhbar Libya
                                         
Beheadings, surprise kidnappings and public crucifixions are the most mundane of daily activities. Even those obeying the rules of the terror group aren't spared. ISIL's "Charter of the City" declares all public funds must belong to the terror group.  Woes of the residents of Sirte go beyond the usual  downsides of a post-war city.  Initially the grocery stores were without food and hospitals without doctors and medicines.  Then it got worse.   Quoting Human Rights Watch, terrorists "control Sirte's port, air base, main power station and radio station, along with all local government offices and finances.  The group has also set up three prisons, closed down banks, and established call centers so that it can control residents' communication with the outside world."  ISIL controls most major oil wells of the country including Adjabiyah oil fields near Sirte.  Schools and colleges are shut.  Kids as young as 16 and under are being conscripted into the terror group.  Those who made a living practicing homeopathy and acupuncture dare not any longer. Several of them have been accused of sorcery and their heads cut off in public.  Wherefrom is ISIL getting its regular supply of orange jumpsuits it forces its victims to wear before slaughtering them and the numerous brand new Toyota pickup trucks fluttering the black flag are questions too simple to require answers. 

Of the myriad of Libyan rival groups confronting ISIL, most have been subjugated by the latter in one way or another.  If the US coalition ever decides to go up against ISIL in Libya, that could be mission impossible as there are hardly any Daesh-opposing forces on the ground to assist with counteroffensives.

What one fears may eventually happen in Syria has already happened in Libya with Sirte as its base.

If really there were any Libyan citizens who felt "hopeful" soon after the murder of Col. Gaddafi, as claimed by Western sources, its outcome has surely been the lesson of their lifetime incarnating the blunders of sheer ignorance.

Operation Get Gaddafi (NOT the "Libyan Civil War") was a milestone in the history of terrorism.  It established a very special bond between Al Qaeda and NATO which both hold very near and dear to their hearts.