Libya demanded urgent answers Thursday after Paris conceded French missiles were found at a base used by strongman Khalifa Haftar, whose forces are fighting to seize the capital Tripoli.
Paris on Wednesday admitted that U.S.-made missiles found on a base operated by forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Haftar belonged to the French military, but it denied breaching a United Nations arms embargo, claiming that the weapons were “unusable” and never intended to end up with the warlord’s troops, who have been accused of war crimes.
Libyan guards at a detention center in Tripoli’s Tajoura neighborhood this week shot at refugees and migrants trying to flee airstrikes that the internationally recognized government has blamed on forces loyal to renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar, the United Nations revealed.
The United Nations-brokered administration in Libya accused warlord Khalifa Haftar’s forces, fighting on behalf of the breakaway government in the eastern part of the country, of launching an airstrike on Wednesday that struck a migrant detention center in Tripoli, reportedly killing at least 44 people and wounding over 130.
Fighters loyal to renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar in Libya this week denied Turkey’s claims that they arrested six Turks over the weekend.
The Turkish government over the weekend demanded that Gen. Khalifa Haftar “immediately” release six Turkish nationals arrested in Libya to avoid a military response.
The United Nations-brokered administration in Libya this week reportedly accused forces loyal to warlord Gen. Khalifa Haftar of using cluster bombs and internationally-banned munitions carrying a phosphorous chemical payload in Tripoli.
The internationally-recognized Libyan government over the weekend accused an armed group loyal to renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar of shutting off water for two days, ending on Tuesday, to areas in and around Tripoli, further tormenting residents already reeling from weeks of fighting.
WASHINGTON, DC — Russia, the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), and other jihadis are expected to benefit from the chaotic conditions in Libya fueled by Moscow-backed renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s ongoing offensive to take the capital of Tripoli from the internationally-recognized government.
Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) – the U.N.-recognized government currently under siege in Tripoli by one of the other major factions vying for control of the shattered country – on Thursday revoked the licenses of about 40 foreign oil and gas firms, including French giant Total.
Libyan strongman Gen. Khalifa Haftar has accused Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj of sending Islamic State jihadists to an Italian military hospital for treatment without informing the Italian mission.
The Islamic State (ISIS) has taken credit for an attack against the forces of Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, which took place before dawn on Saturday in Sebha, in southern Libya.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) reportedly used Chinese-made drones to launch deadly airstrikes on Tripoli on behalf of Libyan renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar, military analysts alleged Thursday.
Allegedly foreign warplanes and drones fighting on behalf of warlord Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) have reportedly intensified their air campaign around the North African country’s capital of Tripoli over the last two days, leaving civilians trapped and unable to escape the besieged region.
The Libyan National Army, led by renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar, claimed Sunday to possess documents and other evidence purportedly showing that Turkey and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan support the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) attacked migrants trapped in a detention center on the outskirts of Tripoli, killing at least six and injuring 11 others, the internationally-recognized government and detainees claimed on Tuesday.
Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) have deployed reinforcements to the legitimate government of Libya, the Government of National Accord (GNA), to prevent renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) from conquering Tripoli, a spokesman for the warlord’s forces claimed over the weekend.
President Donald Trump recognized the “significant role in fighting terrorism” of Libyan Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) in a phone call with Haftar on Monday, potentially marking a shift from favoring the United Nations-brokered government to endorsing the warlord who controls most of the country.
The head of the United Nations mission in Libya on Wednesday blasted “in the strongest terms” warlord Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s ongoing offensive to take the capital of Tripoli from troops loyal to the internationally recognized administration, accusing his eastern forces of committing “war crimes” with “indiscriminate” shelling overnight that struck densely-populated area.
The World Health Organization said Thursday that 205 people have been killed, including 18 civilians, and 913 injured in two weeks of fighting in Libya.
Italy’s ports will remain closed, said Interior Minister Matteo Salvini Wednesday, especially with the increased risk of Islamic terrorism coming out of Libya.
Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), warned on Tuesday that 800,000 more migrants could be driven into Europe unless the assault on Tripoli by warlord Khalifa Haftar ends soon.
The office of Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi reportedly expressed support for Libyan renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar on Sunday during a visit by the latter, occurring as his troops continue an ongoing invasion against the internationally-recognized Libyan government in Tripoli.
Renegade general Khalifa Haftar’s assault on the capital of Libya, prompting thousands to flee their homes, may result in a deadly outbreak of several infectious diseases if it blocks aid workers from importing medicine and forces the displaced to consume dirty water, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Friday.
France, which owns oil assets in Libya, reportedly sidelined a European Union statement this week calling on the Paris and Moscow-backed Libyan strongman Gen. Khalifa Haftar to halt his eastern army’s offensive against forces loyal to the North African country’s internationally recognized government in Tripoli.
Fighting continued around Tripoli on Wednesday as forces loyal to warlord Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA) consolidated their hold on the suburbs while the U.N.-sponsored Government of National Accord (GNA) dug in with barricades and machine-gun platforms.
China’s state-run Global Times propaganda arm published an opinion piece condemning “the West” for the current instability in Libya on Tuesday, arguing that “the West couldn’t care less” about Tripoli and that Libya is “one of the biggest failures” of the Arab Spring.
Jihadists loyal to the Islamic State reportedly attacked a stronghold Tuesday under the control of Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar miles from Libya’s capital, Tripoli, where Haftar launched an invasion to overthrow the internationally-recognized government this week.
The U.S. military over the weekend announced that it had “temporarily” withdrawn a small contingent of American troops from Libya “due to increased unrest” in Tripoli fueled by ongoing battles between pro-internationally recognized government forces and an army loyal to a renegade warlord backed by Russia, France, and neighboring Egypt, among other countries.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres flew from Tripoli to Benghazi on Friday to meet with warlord Khalifa Haftar, whose forces are converging on Tripoli in a push to dislodge the U.N.-sanctioned but distressingly ineffectual Government of National Accord (GNA).
Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, commander of the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA), commenced his march on Tripoli Thursday, capturing a town only 60 miles south of the national capital and headquarters of the U.N.-backed, internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA). The GNA issued military alerts as skirmishes were reported between its forces and the LNA vanguard.
Libyan strongman General Khalifa Haftar said on Sunday that Libya’s seven-year political crisis would soon be resolved with a single government in charge of the entire country. His so-called Libyan National Army (LNA) is advancing toward Tripoli, suggesting Haftar intends to either replace the late Moammar Qaddafi as a dictator or secure himself a position of great importance in a national unity government.
Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar, who has conquered well over half the country despite the international community formally recognizing an entirely different government as legitimate, was a guest of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz in Riyadh on Wednesday. Details of their conversation are scarce, but Haftar’s first visit to Saudi Arabia seems like a significant event.
Libyan National Army (LNA) forces loyal to the Russian-backed strongman Gen. Khalifa Haftar reportedly killed civilians, including children, and set dozens of homes ablaze after capturing Libya’s southern city of Murzuq over the weekend, two lawmakers representing each of the rival governments asserted.
Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) on Friday urged all factions to stand down from a military confrontation as tribesmen and government troops occupied different parts of El Sharara, the country’s largest oil field.
Contents: Italy’s Libya peace talk conference ends in drama but no resolution; Split in Libya reflects the fault line in the Arab world
Contents: Libya declares state of emergency, closes Tripoli airport; The deterioration of Libya since the 2011 ‘Arab Spring’
The Libyan government launched airstrikes on Sunday against a militia group that was attempting to seize the oil terminals at Ras Lanuf and el-Sidr, two key port cities for the Libyan oil industry.
Representatives of the warring factions that control portions of chaotic Libya tentatively agreed to hold national elections on December 10 during a conference in Paris on Tuesday. They also resolved to make progress toward drafting a constitution by September.
Gen. Khalifa Haftar, a military strongman who leads an army that controls most of eastern Libya, returned to his seat of power in the war-ravaged African country following rumors that he was dead this week as he received medical treatment in Paris for about 20 days.