On June 28, Gen. Khalifa Hifter, commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), declared full victory in Derna after a month of fighting to take back the northeastern city from a coalition of terror groups including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS). By taking Derna, the historical springboard of all kinds of jihadis, Hifter is now the dominant, unchallenged military and political figure in the entire eastern region of Libya, as well as parts of the south.
He is definitely much stronger than he was just a month earlier. In light of these recent victories, it might seem time for Hifter to translate this military victory into some sort of political credit. But doing so isn't as straightforward as he might think.
