Libya Security Highlights (May 25 – 31, 2020)

In Bani Walid, the Libyan Army Spokesman, Colonel Mohamed Gununu, confirmed on May 26 that they had monitored 15 military cargo planes, which landed at local Airport.

In Mizda, the Tripoli-based Government of “National Accord” (GNA) announced on May 28 that 30 migrants were killed in the town of Mizda, which is under the control of its militias.

In Tripoli, forces of the Libyan National Army (LNA) repelled an attack by armed groups of the Government of National Accord (GNA), which took place in Ain Zara.

On the international level, the Head of the Presidential Council Fayez al-Sarraj and the Prime Minister of Malta Robert Abela signed on May 28 an MoU in combatting illegal immigration and consolidating bilateral relations as the latter visited Tripoli to also discuss European Union’s Operation IRINI that aims to enforce the UN arms embargo on Libya.

BANI WALID

• the Libyan Army Spokesman, Colonel Mohamed Gununu, confirmed on May 26 that they had monitored 15 military cargo planes, which landed at Bani Walid Airport over the past 24 hours. Gununu said in a statement that Russian Wagner mercenaries, who fled from Southern Tripoli and Tarhuna, could be seen boarding several Antonov An-14-type military aircraft, which had been monitored landing at the airport;
• Russian fighters in Libya were flown out of a town south of Tripoli by their Libyan allies after retreating from the front lines, the town’s mayor said on May 25. The reported departure of the Russian mercenaries is another blow to the Libya National Army (LNA) of eastern Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar and his foreign allies.

MIZDA

• the Tripoli-based Government of “National Accord” (GNA) announced on May 28 that 30 migrants were killed in the town of Mizda, which is under the control of its militias. The GNA interior ministry said in a statement that 26 Bangladeshi and four African migrants had been killed in the town of Mizda, southeast Tripoli, and that 11 injured survivors were taken to a hospital in Zintan.

SABHA

• the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), called on all citizens of Sabha, on May 31 not to leave the city until those in direct contact with individuals recently testing positive in a cluster of COVID-19 cases were traced and the epidemiological situation stabilized;
• Sabha Security Directorate announced a curfew on all citizens from 12 pm, through until 9 am daily, beginning from May 27 and lasting for a full two weeks, in an effort to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

TRIPOLI

• five people have been killed in grad rockets attack by Khalifa Haftar’s forces on Souq al-Thelat and Al-Gharbi Street in Tripoli’s city center, according to the media adviser of the Libyan Health Ministry Ameen Al-Hashimi. Al-Hashimi added on May 31 that four of the killed civilians had been in Souq al-Thelat roundabout and the fifth in Al-Gharbi Street, which is a densely populated area in Tripoli;

• at least three civilians were injured on May 28 as Khalifa Haftar’s forces shelled a residential area in Tripoli, Libya’s capital, Anadolu Agency reports on May 28. “Three civilians, including two children, were wounded as a result of shelling by the Haftar militia in the Ain Zara area,” Osama Ali, a spokesman for the Libyan government’s ambulance and emergency service, told Anadolu Agency;

• forces of the Libyan National Army (LNA) repelled an attack by armed groups of the Government of National Accord (GNA), which took place in Ain Zara, south of Tripoli, earlier on May 28. The failed attack resulted in the killing of many GNA militants, LNA said;
• Operation Volcano of Rage confirmed on May 27 that Colonel Fathi al-Hosh of Military Engineering Department along with a number of his colleagues were wounded while dismantling mines and explosives in liberated neighborhoods of South Tripoli;

• the Libyan National Army (LNA) shot down on May 27 a booby-trapped drone, that was dropping itself on individuals, confirmed LNA Commander of Ain Zara axis, Major General Fawzi al-Mansouri. Al-Mansouri indicated – according to LNA Military Information Division – that those who first used these drones were the Houthis in Yemen through Iran, adding that there could be a link between the Tripoli-based Government of “National Accord” (GNA) and the Iranians;

• the Libyan National Army, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, announced on May 26 that its units had taken control of the town of Al-Hirah, on the outskirts of Gharyan, south of Tripoli, after the forces of the Tripoli-based “National Accord” Government headed by Fayez al-Sarraj withdrew from it;
• the Libyan National Army announced on May 26 that its units had repelled an attack by the forces of the Tripoli-based “National Accord” Government in the Ain Zara axis, south of Tripoli. “The Ain Zara axis has witnessed an attempt to advance the GNA forces towards the Electricity Triangle, and the army forces succeeded in repelling the attack,” Al-Mundhir al-Khartoush, a member of the LNA’s information office, said in press statements.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

• the Head of the Libyan Presidential Council Fayez al-Sarraj has spoken with the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on the phone on May 30 and discussed the ongoing developments in Libya, both in military and health fields as the Tripoli offensive by Khalifa Haftar’s forces and Coronavirus pandemic are still sweeping through the country;
• the International Organization for Migration has called on the Libyan authorities on May 30 to immediately launch an investigation into the killing of 30 migrants that took place in Mizda city southwest of Libya, insisting that those responsible must be brought to justice;
• the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi discussed on a phone call with the President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades on May 29 the latest developments of the Libyan case;
• Algeria is ready to host Libyan dialogue in order to reach a peaceful solution to the ongoing year-long conflict in Tripoli, Algeria’s Foreign Minister Sabri Boukadoum said on May 28;
• the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres, on May 28 informed the UN Security Council (UNSC) of the brutal killing of 58 innocent civilians and the wounding of at least another 190, in Libya since last April, up until May 18, many of whom were children;
• the Head of the Presidential Council Fayez al-Sarraj and the Prime Minister of Malta Robert Abela signed on May 28 an MoU in combatting illegal immigration and consolidating bilateral relations as the latter visited Tripoli to also discuss European Union’s Operation IRINI that aims to enforce the UN arms embargo on Libya;
• Libya is further spiraling into a full-blown proxy war like Syria that could destabilize the region, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian warned on May 27;
• the Tunisian Defense Minister, Imed Hazgui, reiterated the necessity of finding a Libyan political solution to the Libyan crisis, “primarily respecting the will and interests of the Libyan people.”;
• the US ambassador to Libya Richard Norland said his country’s goal is to see an end to the offensive against Tripoli. Ambassador Norland spoke on May 27 with the mayor of Zintan Mustafa al-Baroni and discussed current developments in Libya, according to the US embassy Facebook page;
• the Turkish presidential spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, said on May 27 that Haftar’s supporters, including France, are standing on the wrong side of the Libyan conflict, adding in a press statement that Haftar has escalated violence in Libya and caused extreme internal pain, through his external support;
• the EU foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell has conceded on May 27 that Operation IRINI will not stop the flow of arms to Libya completely. Aki news agency quoted Borrell as saying that the operation will contribute in some way in controlling the arms smuggling to Libya and monitor the movement of oil sales, “which are fueling the Libyan conflict”;
• the Russian First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov denied that his country sent military personnel to Libya. The Russian official said on May 27 that the Russian Federation Council had not received a request to agree to send troops there, according to Interfax news agency;
• the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, told the Speaker of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives Aqila Saleh on May 26 that Moscow backed an immediate ceasefire and political talks that would culminate in united governing authorities, according to Reuters;
• U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) reported on May 26 that Russia has recently deployed sophisticated military fighter aircraft to Libya in order to support Russian state-sponsored private military contractors (PMCs) Wagner, operating on the ground there;

• the President of Algeria, Abdelmadjid Tabboune, and his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed on May 26 to intensify all efforts to reach a cease-fire in Libya;
• Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, and his French counterpart, Jean-Yves Le Drian, discussed on May 26 the latest developments in the Libyan arena and ways to reach a comprehensive political settlement to the crisis;
• the US Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, said that there are forces in Libya seeking to impose a new political order by military means or terrorism, according to a statement released by the American Embassy on May 25;
• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on May 25 received a phone call from Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to discuss issues of common concern, especially developments in the Libyan situation;
• UNSMIL said on May 25 that it was extremely concerned about reports that residents of the Ain Zara and Salahuddin areas of Tripoli have been killed or wounded by booby-traps (Improvised Explosive Devices – IEDs) placed in/near their homes.