Taking advantage of the ongoing chaos in Libya, a large group of Islamist gunmen, believed to be members of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), recently seized a weapons depot in the eastern Libyan port city of Derna. The incident underscores the increasing danger posed by militant Islamic terror groups to fill a potential power vacuum created by the disintegration of the Gadhafi regime.
Calling itself the “Islamist Emirate of Baraqa,” the group, assisted by Libyan Army Colonel Adnan al-Nwisri, seized over 250 weapons. The cache included a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, three anti-aircraft guns, 70 assault rifles, and over 70 military vehicles.
The gunmen also took both civilians and Libyan soldiers as hostages in the nearby port city of Al-Baida, threatening to kill them unless the siege of that city was lifted by Libyan security forces. The same group was also accused by Libyan officials of hanging two soldiers only days earlier.
While concerns abound that Islamic fascists will eventually take control of both Tunisia and Egypt in the aftermath of their revolutions, the chances of it first occurring in Libya may be much greater. Unlike those two countries, which have a semblance of military and civilian institutions to at least temporarily fill any power void, Libya has nothing comparable. According to one US intelligence analyst, “Everything is controlled by Qaddafi and his clique. The country could quickly become a failed state if it collapses.”