Benghazi

 
Timecode reference /
Picture reference
    Voiceover     Sync (interview)       
1    Benghazi – the birthplace of Libya’s uprising

A city that gave hope to an entire nation    



       
2        Cameron “Your city was an inspiration to the world as you threw off a dictator and choose freedom.”       
3    Five years on and the city is tearing itself apart.

The Islamic State group has taken root and western powers are once again talking about action.

I’m Feras Kilani and I’m one of the few journalists to visit inside the Benghazi.             
4        






    “Where we’re standing here to the rear of us has been secured but Sabri is still under control of the Shura Council but at the spearhead is Islamic State.”
       
5    During our time in the city we discover the army coalition is struggling in their fight against Islamist militias and IS….           
6    





    <<Ferraj B SOT>>
“In the last 9 months we’ve lost lots of ground in Benghazi and that’s because of poor leadership.”
       
7    And there’s growing fears of a split in the army….           
8    





    <<Ferraj G SOT>>
“There’s a big disagreement between the frontline commanders, the army leadership and the government.“
       
9    We investigate what these tensions within the military mean for the future of the city
           
10
<<IS Video>>
    And ask can the army stop the spread of IS?           
11  Benghazi
    Broken by conflict Benghazi now stands divided

The heart of the city is lawless and wrecked after months of continuous fighting

We travel around the city under the protection of these fighters – it’s impossible to operate here without them           
8         PTC: “This is the 50th street – it goes along from the eastern entrance to the centre of the city. It’s the only entrance that’s open. The rest are closed due to heavy fighting, that doesn’t stop.  As we see this gate is surrounded by lots of buildings and civilians districts. It’s in parallel with the coastal road which is full of snipers and heavy artillery”       
9    <<Bang Bang>>
Entire neighborhoods here have become conflict zones

And Fighters take up positions on the edge of people’s apartments.


In this poor district people have no other options but to stay
           
10
<<School>>
    A few hundred meters away from the fighting children take a dangerous journey to school

The only safe route inside for these kids is from the rear

The school has been hit by gunfire before – but the kids - are desperate for an education.

Lessons were stopped once the fighting started a year and a half ago.

I meet the Head Teacher Fauzia Mukhtar Abeid, she tells despite the dangers she reopened the school just a month ago.           
11        SOT
“We reopened the school to teach students who live in buildings around us.  It was at the request of their parents.”

“At the beginning I was worried about my students and my teachers. I honestly hesitated to reopen the school. I fear random missiles and the snipers. I fear people sabotaging education in Benghazi.       
12    There are currently 400 children in classes here

Many of them are troubled by the situation.
           
13        “There’s definitely a psychological impact on the pupils. They’re



They live in an area under bombardment so they’re already suffering. <<Bang>> You see?


“I came here to create a sweet atmosphere. I’m trying to get them to forget what’s going on. I give them beautiful books to to lift their spirits.“       
14    Not all the schools here are open

Over a hundred thousand people in the city have had to flee their homes because of the fighting – many of them end up living in schools like this one.

Jamal Warfali  and his family lost their home when the violence quickly spread through his neighborhood.           
15        “On the 16th of October 2014 at 10am The army ordered us to leave our house.  

They told us we’d be able to return in 3 days, don’t take anything with you.  


Feras: Do you think your house is still standing?

The house is in the thick of it, obviously it’s been hit.

Women: I was told that the front has gone.  They told me the furniture has been stolen, everything has gone.  Everything is replaceable; it’s not a problem. It’s all right. I just hope safety comes back to the country.  

Father: Why did you leave?

Daughter: Because of the fighting

Feras: Who has taken your house?

Daughter: Islamic State

Mother: What do they do?

Daughter: They kill the kids. They kill the militants. Kidnap the men.
       
16
<<Graphic>>
    In Benghazi the army is battling two different groups at the same time

The first is the Shura council of revolutionaries, a collection of Islamist militias.

The second is the Islamic State.

US estimates now suggest they have up to six thousand fighters under their command across the country
           
17    <<Farraj Q>>

And these are some of the men who support the army against the Islamists.

Benghazi’s Anti Terrorism unit.

When the fighting started, they were just a militia. But now they’ve been given official status.

Their commander is Faraj Quaim.

He’s on his way to check his men’s progress on the frontline and has invited us to join him.
           
18    













    Farraj: Look at the youth who are living close to us on the frontline.

Feras: Aren’t they exposed to dangerous shelling or gunfire?

Farraj: No, thanks to God. So far there’s been no incidents.

Feras: How far are we from the frontline?

Farraj: Less than 500m       
19    Farraj has a unit based on the outskirts of the Al Sabri district. It’s a key neighbourhood in the centre of the city.  

We follow him to his frontline positions.

Immediately as we arrive a Libyan military jet hit Islamist targets just ahead of us.            
20        Feras: Where are we?

Farraj: This is the closest we can get to the Sabri district.  You can see the spotters in front of you.

This is the first line of fire.       
21    Farraj orders his men to follow up the attack           
22        These are the brave men on the frontlines.        
23    We follow the men to another position above the frontline.

Many of the fighters here - were children during the revolution.

Benghazi was left unscarred by the uprising five years ago.  Just look at it now           
24        Fighter: From this position here we’re facing the snipers.  

Feras: Can we see them from here?

Fighter: Yes, you can see them. They usually come to this street.        
25    We push forward into Sabri – a coastal area and key supply route - Just 300m from Islamist positions.
           
26        PTC: “ This is the last point we can reach as journalists. We are in a place called Sabri district. These buildings are under army’s control but we can’t reach them because they’re under fire from IS and Islamist militias.       
27    We visited this district last year and it’s clear the fighters have lost ground to Islamists.

It’s a major set back for the army.

From this position I can see they’ve been pushed out of the key central district of Sabri.

It’s left many of the men demoralized            
28        Feras: Are the buildings we can see under your control?

No

Is it dangerous to be standing here?

No, because the school over there belongs to the army and we use it to cross to the other side.

Bearded fighter: We’re fighting against the Islamic State. I think the whole world supports them, but who supports us? Egypt gave us a tiny amount of weapons but it’s nothing compared to what IS has. Is it because they don’t believe Islamic State exists in Libya? I swear to God look at them, they’re just in front of you.  On your way here someone shot at you. A sniper on the look-out, he doesn’t care. All that matters for him is shooting and killing.          
29    All the men here complain about the lack of supplies, Farraj Gieum says it’s why they’ve lost ground…            
30        The main reason is the lack of resources in the hands of the Libyan Army, the ministries, and the units manning the frontlines.

Q
Let me be frank. My visits to the various frontlines revealed some problems between the local commanders and the general command of the Libyan Army. To what extent would you expect this to influence the outcome of the battle for Benghazi?

What got us to this stage is the political bickering. Differences between local leaders, the army leadership and the state leadership.

The army leadership is not supposed to get involved in politics.        
31    <<Night scene>>

As light fades on the city, we stay on the frontlines with the fighters…

The men are tired ---many of them have been fighting for months.

Tawfik is Unit’s leader           
32        Q: If the situation carries on here, how will your men cope?

“They’re standing here to liberate all of Benghazi, their wish is to free this area so we can move on to another area to liberate. If we all fight with unity we’d already have freed this place. Their morale is low because we’re not moving forward.  

Those that are not physically affected are mentally effected. I have men with me who are mentally ill from the hardship.

One of my men was hit by an airstrike, he’s still alive but he lost his mind.        
33        Mohammed was hit by an airstrike in a friendly fire incident. He survived but 6 of his fellow fighters were instantly killed.

The experience is too difficult for him to talk about but he wanted us to see his scars.

I asked Tawfik how he feels about the loses within his unit    
 
       
        This problem is not amongst the fighters. This problem is with the leadership. The anti-terrorism group tried to unify the leaders more than ten times. We gathered the leaders to try and bring them together to agree to try as one body and straight after that they scattered.

Q But the leadership of the army see Farraj Guaim as part of the problem

I’ll withdraw if they insist but the army needs to bring replacements.        
34
<<Demos>>
    The army has a controversial reputation in Libya

And that’s mainly because of this man. General Khalifa Haftar.
           
        “The Libyan national army, the protector of the people and the nation, declares we have taken this decision….”       
    Two years ago he launched a coup against the Libyan parliament accusing them of being controlled by Islamists.

The coup failed – and damaged his reputation. Critics viewed him as another Muammar Gaddafi

A few months later he began a military campaign against Islamist militias in Benghazi.  

He blamed them for the continuous violence across the city.

A year and a half later – the operation is still going

It has left the city shattered and divided.

General Haftar is now the head of the army.

When I met him last year, he told me he wasn’t trying to force his leadership onto Libya…
           
35        “The question about me being the next Gaddafi, first of all I’ve never inherited anything from him.  It’s totally the opposite, we’re here to work and care for the people. We want stability for the people.”

Do you have any political ambitions?
“Firstly a person that doesn’t have any ambitions is not a normal person. For someone to live a true life you have to have ambitious.
       
36    Despite his comments many people in Benghazi are still suspicious of Khalifa Haftar’s ambitions.

Col Mohhamed Hajazi is the army spokesman and is keen to defend his commander.
    




       
37        “Khalifa Haftar is a Libyan citizen and has the right to take off his military uniform and run for an election.

I’m reflecting the voices on the Libyan streets and I’m sure he’ll be the head of the state, if he wishes.

Major General Haftar has a national and holy duty to fight the terrorism and extremism. We don’t have any political ambitions at the present but this could change.
       
38    Colonel Hejazi also denied there are any tensions within the army because of Haftar’s leadership. He says it’s simply rumours spread by the Islamists.
           
39    
    


       
    
One man that knows Khalifa Haftar well is Colonel Farraj Barrasi
           
40        I knew Khalifa since 1977, he was my commander in the Tripoli tank brigade.

This is beautiful. I miss those days, I wish they’d come back. In those days we had a strict beautiful army that protects the country.  The army’s allegiance was to God and the nation.
       
    More than 30 years later, he once again found himself under Haftar’s command           
41               
42    This time Colonel Barrasi was in charge of the operation against the Islamists in Benghazi
           
               
43        When we first started the campaign and marched on Benghazi it was truly thanks to the local youths and military.

We went into Benghazi working as one team. The main goal was to fight against ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Not to fight the citizens of Benghazi.

I was frequently speaking to the media, telling them we don’t have a proper army.

Khalifa Haftar wasn’t pleased, he always tried to portray himself as the only leader. We had a problem and as a result he would starve my units of ammunitions

I carried on but the army leadership created a split between the fighters, labelling them “supporters” and “non-supporters”.

The supporters were given supplies, while the others got nothing. This gradually divided people. A wise leadership would not have treated people in such a manner.
        
44
Stills of Barrasi    Just 10 months into the Benghazi operation Colonel Barrasi left his post.

The news came as a shock to the army supporters in the city

The military says he was fired but he insists it was due to the growing divisions           
45
Archive from April trip    
The loss of the leader of the Benghazi operation was to have a significant effect.

The last time we visited Benghazi – it was just a month after he left his post.

The army was still optimistic.

However, Shortly after hundreds of fighters loyal to Colonel Barrasi left their positions.

It resulted in significant loss of territory.
           
46        Feras: Did you order your men to withdraw from Benghazi after you were evicted?

No. My men stayed there but after I left they were subjected to ill- treatment which caused them to leave

Do you know that armed vehicles and ammunition are left in the stores in the military headquarters whilst the Benghazi fighters are desperate for them?  

They started accusing us of being hypocrites.
        
47
Pictures of Haftar in base    We’ve repeatedly contacted Khalifa Haftar for an interview and have sent these allegations to the leadership of the military.

They say they’re only obliged to give military supplies to army & the supporters they trust.
           
48
ISIS Video    Many Islamist fighters in the city are now pledging their allegiance to ISIS           
49    As tensions within the army grow – so does the strength of the Islamic State group           
50    Five years after the revolution western forces are once again considering military action in Libya.
           
51
Farraj G    The men of the anti terrorism force are one of groups charged with defeating Islamic State in Benghazi

Farraj Gaium admits the spread of IS has become the biggest threat in the city.           
52        Islamic State are more advanced than us. Whether in the field or in their agility. They move around in smart ways.

If stability is not restored in Libya, none of the neighboring countries will be stable. From Egypt to Tunisia, and from Italy to the whole of Europe.

       
53               
54
Pictures of Col. Hajazi.    Since filming Farraj Gaium’s car was blown up in an assignation attempt.

The friction within the military has also continued – with a number of other military commanders expressing their frustrations at the leadership.

Also - The army spokesman Colonel Major Hajazi has publically split from the head of the army -- once again highlighting the tensions within the military.
           
55
Black flag of IS    As we leave Benghazi we spot the black flag of Islamic State high above a frontline position.

If the splits within the army aren’t addressed there’s a growing fear that more of these flags could start to appear in Benghazi and across the country