(Tripoli) Libyan armed forces affiliated with the UN-recognized government in Tripoli have raised their alert level in the southwest of the country, preparing for a “possible attack” by forces led by eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar, according to local media.
“Deputy Chief of Staff Salaheddine al-Namrouch has instructed army units to be on alert and ready to repel any possible attack,” a source in the general staff told Libyan channel Libya al-Ahrar on Thursday.
Undermined by fratricidal violence and divisions since the fall and death of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is governed by two rival executives. One in Tripoli (West) is led by Abdelhamid Dbeibah and recognized by the UN, the other in the east, is embodied by the Parliament and affiliated with the camp of Marshal Haftar, whose stronghold is in Benghazi.
Marshal Haftar, with the military support of foreign allies (Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates), had launched a brutal offensive from April 2019 to June 2020 to seize Tripoli. He had been stopped on the outskirts by the forces of the Government of National Accord, supported by Turkey.
The private television channel al-Ahrar reported on Wednesday that forces affiliated with Marshal Haftar were “heading towards the southwest of Libya”, on the border with Tunisia and Algeria, in an area controlled by the authorities in Tripoli, without giving further details.
Forces led by Saddam Haftar, son of Marshal Haftar, announced on Tuesday a “comprehensive operation” officially aimed at “securing the country’s southern borders and strengthening national security and stability in these strategic areas” and the “deployment of patrols […] to monitor the border strip with neighboring countries.”
The units placed “under the direct supervision” of Saddam Haftar are heading “towards the towns and areas of southwestern Libya,” the general staff of the eastern forces said in a statement on Facebook.
Libya is bordered by Sudan to the southeast, Chad to the south, Niger to the southwest, Algeria to the west and Tunisia to the northwest.