Ansar al Shariah Is Back On The Streets Of Benghazi

Members of Ansar al-Sharia, another al-Qaida-affiliated group, man a checkpoint at the southern Yemeni town of Jaar in April. Government troops recently retook areas in the country's restive south from militant control after a two-month offensive. Reuters/Landov

Libya’s Ansar al Shariah, Expelled After Ambassador Chris Stevens’ Death, Is Back In Benghazi -- McClatchy News

BENGHAZI, Libya — The September death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans was supposed to mark the end of Ansar al Shariah, the extremist militia suspected of being behind the attack and that had controlled the streets of this city for months beforehand, demanding that an Islamist country emerge from the 2011 revolution that toppled longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Three days after the popular ambassador’s death, hundreds of outraged Libyans stormed Ansar al Shariah’s headquarters, routing everyone inside and setting the building ablaze. Members of Ansar al Shariah disappeared, “like sugar in water,” as one Libyan explained. The militant group’s checkpoints came down around the city and its threats against residents that its members had seen as too liberal stopped. Libya, the people of Benghazi seemed to say, would not tolerate extremism in the nation’s second largest city.

That was then. Nine months later, Ansar al Shariah is back on the streets of Benghazi.

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My Comment: These militias are (unfortunately) going to plague Libya for a very long time.