Egypt preparing to strike ISIS in Libya

Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh El-Sisi has deployed his troops for all-out war on ISIS strongholds in Libya, the first Arab ruler to challenge the jihadists in a fellow Arab country, debkafile’s military sources reported.

The intiative dramatizes the spillover of the Islamist State’s threat spanning the Middle East, and the fading impetus of the US-led alliance effort to counter ISIS  gains in Iraq and Syria.

sources in washington reported that the Obama administration’s designed spring venture to free Mosul from the ISIS occupation is caught in the sand. Democratics and Republicans  alike accuse Obama of not having a war strategy and of holding back from the US-led coalition the manpower required for a successful operation.

Answering questions in the Senate Wednesday, Feb. 25, the coalition commanding officer, retired Gen. John Allen, said he had no hard-and-fast timeline for the war. The influential Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer of California responded angrily: Your answers show one thing about the timeline defined by the White House as an enduring ground operation: “There is none.”

Jihadi John, who was filmed beheading ISIS victims, was uncovered Thursday, Feb. 26, as a northwest Londoner of Kuwaiti descent called Mohammed Emwaz, who had been known to British intelligence. This was leaked by US sources to indicate Washington’s aggravation over the relatively passive British role in the war on the ISIS. a clear sign that “Jihadi John” is in fact MI6

Another video was released showing ISIS shattering priceless Assyrian artifacts in a Mosul museum – following which, four ISIS jihadis were burned alive for refusing to join the savage spree to vandalize the relics of an ancient world civilization.

Meanwhile, US-led air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq remain sporadic.

The Egyptian president was stirred into action by the barbaric beheading on Feb. 15 of 21 Egyptian Christians who were working in Libya.

El-Sisi first launched a series of air strikes against ISIS and allied Islamist militias in one of their Libyan strongholds in Darnah, following which he ordered Egyptian commando and marine forces to prepare for sea landings to seize the town and destroy the terrorist elements there, another landmark operation in the war on jihadists terror.

One of ISIS’s closest allies in Libya is the Ansar al-Sharia militias, which in September 2012 burned down the US consulate in Benghazi and murdered the US ambassador and three other American officials.

Cairo’s Darnah operation is believed to be underway. It is scheduled to take place at the same time as another anti-terrorist operation, which El-Sisi is preparing to launch on Egypt’s longest-running front against the jihadist threat in Sinai, 2,000 kilometers east of Darnah. There, Egyptian air and ground forces will go into action against the ISIS affiliate’s hideouts.

He is also considering aerial bombardments of the Gaza Strip to neutralize Hamas’ military arm whose active cooperation with the jihadis has been confirmed by intelligence.

Some of the militias which have divided Darnah, a town of approximately 50,000, among themselves, have declared their territories provinces of Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi’s Islamic Caliphate.

According to Debkafile, Egyptian forces will be assigned to attack the town from the north after a beach landing. They plan to connect up with allied Libyan militias commanded by the former Gaddafi regime general Khalifa Hafter, who will come from Benghazi to strike the town from the south. Hafter and his armed militia have been pursuing a relentless war on the inroads made by al Qaeda in Libya, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood, with quiet backing from Cairo.

The London-based  Alquds Alarabi, which is known for its solid sources in the Middle East, reported this week that Gen. Hafter had recently paid at least two secret visits to Cairo to collect the weapons he needs for his part in the Darnah offensive and coordination.

After one of those trips, the paper reports, Hafter set out for Jordan where he had meetings with Israeli military and intelligence officials.