In Libya, troops under Gen. Khalifa Hifter took control of Benghazi’s al-Laithi district as militants rapidly withdrew from the area, The New Arab reported Feb. 23. The militants’ withdrawal allowed families displaced by two years of combat to return to their homes in the district, which had been a stronghold for jihadist militias aligned with the Islamic State and al Qaeda. Hifter’s Libyan National Army continues to battle militants in western and southern areas of the city, even as the vote on a national unity government approaches .