More than 300 flights arrived in Libya’s east from Syria over six months in breach of an arms embargo, UN report says.
Moscow flew hundreds of military flights into Libya in breach of an arms embargo, as it stepped up its logistical support for a shadowy Russian private military contractor accused of committing war crimes in the North African country, a UN report said.
The Libyan National Army (LNA) under the leadership of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar confirmed locking its control over Libya’s southern areas, and broadcast video footage on Wednesday showing military units patrolling Libya’s southwest
West Africa’s Sahel region has become the latest scene of jihadist in-fighting, after Islamic State group (IS) revealed it is engaged in fierce clashes with al-Qaeda militants in Mali and Burkina Faso.
Russia has stepped up its logistic support for private military contractor Wagner Group in Libya with some 338 military cargo flights from Syria in the nine months to July 31 to aid Wagner fighters backing eastern-based Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar, according to a U.N. report seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
The French government is investigating a senior French military officer working at an Italy-based NATO facility, monitoring the situation in Libya and the Sahara, for passing sensitive information to Russian.
Libyan sources suggested that Al-Attiyah and Akkar came to Libya this week to discuss battle plans for the campaign on Sirte and the oil terminals.
Playing on contradictions, they aim to perpetuate chaos as their best chance for survival.
Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj of Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) suspended Misratan-born Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha on Friday, setting up a major split within the Tripoli-based government that threatens progress toward a cease-fire in the wider civil war.
The Spokesman for the Sirte Al-Jufra Operations Room, Abdel Hadi Drah, confirmed the landing of an Antonov military cargo plane, which belongs to Haftar’s militia groups, at Al-Qardabiya base in Sirte on Sunday.
The developments point to escalating tensions between the two sides’ powerful militias, which some fear could culminate in military confrontation.