High alert issued along Egypt-Libya borders

Egyptian forces near the border with Libya issued a high-level alert after Libyan security forces based at the Musaid border crossing disappeared a few days ago, Al-Ahram’s Arabic website reported Monday.

The reason for their disappearance is still unknown.

Musaid is the major crossing between Libya and Egypt and is approximately 240 kilometers away from Egyptian governorate Marsa Matrouh and 150 kilometers from the Libyan city of Tobruk.

According to Al-Ahram’s Arabic website, Marsa Matrouh’s security head, Hisham Lotfy, said that the Egyptian-Libyan borders are completely secure, and that Egyptian forces are prepared to face any attempted breach of the borders.

Lotfy also said that the state of security in Libya does not pose a threat to Egypt, and that the Egyptian army is capable of protecting the nation’s borders through cooperation with Egypt’s police forces.

Four days ago, The Islamic State group (IS) took control of Sirte, a city in central Libya.

Marsa Matrouh’s governor said that IS is not present in any part of western Libya and any terrorist presence that exists lies in central Libya.

IS claims it took control of several Libyan cities including Barqa in the east, Tripoli in the west, and Fezzan in the south.

In February, IS published a video of 21 Egyptians being beheaded in Libya. The Egyptian army instantly responded with air attacks on IS strongholds in Libya.

source:Ahram online