Eastern commander Haftar captures central desert area of Al Jufra in Libya

(June 7)Forces loyal to Field Marshal Kahlifa Hafter, commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) of the House of Representatives Government (HoR) based in eastern Libya have advanced his power by capturing the Al Jufra region of south central Libya.

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Writing in the Libya Observer, freelance journalist Abdelkader Assad claims that the forces of Haftar's Operation Dignity are close to their dream of entering Tripoli after he gained ground in Al Jufra capturing the towns of Hun, Waddan, and the Al Jufra air base. Earlier he had taken theTimnahent air base without a fight as the Third Force and Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB) abandoned it. After failing in a coup attempt, Haftar launched his Operation Dignity way back in May 2014:

In February 2014, Haftar appeared in a televised announcement to reveal that the General National Congress (GNC), which had recently unilaterally extended its mandate, had been dissolved. Haftar called for a caretaker government to oversee new elections. His announcement was soon dismissed with great skepticism by the then acting Prime Minister Ali Zeidan. Haftar's actions were condemned as a "coup attempt" and "ridiculous".[27][28]] Three months later on 16 May in Operation Dignity, Haftar began a combined air and ground assault against the pro-Islamic militias of Benghazi, as well as a sustained heavy weapons attack against the Libyan parliament.[2Operation Dignity is still ongoing and to a considerable extent is the source of the present conflict with the GNA.

Haftar''s advances have been helped by bombing by foreign aircraft probably Egyptian. The Egyptians bombed the eastern city of Derna held by Islamists who had driven the Islamic State out of the city using the excuse that camps in Derna had been used to train fighters who attacked Coptic Christians in Egypt. Haftar has several times threatened to drive his militia enemies from Tripoli. Assad thinks that Haftar will use his bases in Al Jufra to "takeoff to Tripoli and western Libya" It is more likely that Haftar will move to other places such as Bani Walid first as Assad himself mentions. He would then continue to Misrata before entering Tripoli. He may be waiting to see if there will be a political process which would go as he wants. So far there has been plenty of talk and meetings but no announcement of when and where there will be a dialogue to amend the present Libya Political Agreement (LPA) or if and when the HoR will meet to vote confidence in the UN-brokered Government of National Accord (GNA). The HoR last rejected the GNA on August 22nd 2016 and there has been little evident progress towards a solution since then, in spite of a highly hyped meeting in early May between the head of the GNA presidential council (PC) Fiez Serraj and the eastern commander Khalifa Haftar. There were all sorts of rumored agreements but not a single actual agreement was signed. So-called agreements were mostly propaganda and bargaining positions of Haftar.

Leaders of the Misrata city military council, Battalion No.40 of the Bunayn Marsous Operations Room(BAM), have ordered the Benghazi Defence Brigades (BDB) to surrender their weapons and their leader Mustafa al-Sharksi. If they refuse the Misratans said they would use force. BAM supervised the offensive which took the city of Sirte from the Islamic State(IS) The militant anti-Haftar BDB fighters are at the Baghla junction on the road south of Misrata to Abu Grain. This development further weakens the anti-Haftar forces. Haftar would no doubt be quite happy to see Misratan forces battling with the BDB instead of his own forces doing so.

In the east, the Ajdabiya anti-terrorism authority of the LNA said that it had seized a BDB camp near Sukna taking a number of the group prisoners, and seizing 12 tanks, several armoured vehicles and a stash of ammunition. In preparation for political negotiations, the GNA has an odd strategy. It is making itself weaker and helping Haftar grow stronger. Is there some group within the PC trying to throw those opposed to Haftar under the bus?

Easterm commander Haftar gains ground in Libya with help of Egypt

(June 2) According to a report in Al Jazeera, forces loyal to eastern commander Marshal Khalifa Haftar launched attacks almost simultaneously against forces associated with the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).

The attacks happened just hours after unidentified jets bombed GNA-held areas. Haftar does not recognize the GNA government. His forces, the Libyan National Army(LNA) are associated with the rival House of Representatives(HoR) government. The Bunyan al-Marsous(BAM) forces who who were involved in the clashes earlier captured Sirte from the Islamic State. BAM forces, who support the GNA, said they were attacked on Friday both by Haftar and by Islamic State(IS) forces in the central district of Al Jufra which is south of Sirte. While IS has no longer control over major centers they still exist in a number of areas in Libya. Al Jazeera's reporter Mahmoud Abdelwahed said from Tripoli the capital: "Fresh fighting has erupted between forces loyal to renegade commander Khalifa Haftar and forces loyal to the UN-backed GNA, helped by the Benghazi Defence Brigades in the area of al-Jufra in the central desert of Libya." He said warplanes, believed to be Egyptian, hit 14 locations in Jufra overnight including several residential areas and the Jufra air base used by UN-backed GNA forces. Abdelwahed said the raids caused heavy material damage but there were no reports of casualties. The Jufra area is about 400km to the south of Sirte.

Egyptian president Abdel el-Sisi said on Friday that he had directed strikes against what he called "terrorist camps". On television he said that states that sponsored terrorism would be punished. Apparently this includes the UN-sponsored GNA. Do not expect that the GNA or the UN will do anything other than perhaps let fly some moral put downs and requests that Haftar stop all his successful military endeavours. El-Sisi said: "Egypt will never hesitate to strike terror camps anywhere ... if it plans attacking Egypt whether inside or outside the country." Egypt's original attacks were made on the city of Derna which has been under siege by Haftar for ages. The city is ruled by a Shura Council that is anti-Haftar. The group was instrumental in driving the Islamic State (IS) out of Derna some time ago. El-Sisi maintains that the armed men who carried out an attack in Egypt that killed 29 Coptic Christians and wounded many more were trained in camps in Derna. This is a highly unlikely story. More likely he used the terror attack to help out his friend Haftar while appearing to do something to stop terror attacks. The reports of clashes with the Islamic State have yet to be confirmed in that other reports do not mention it.

The Libya Observer makes no mention of any clashes with the IS but reports clashes between local gunmen and fighters from the Benghazi Defense Brigades (BDB) in the town of Waddan in the Al-Jufra region killed seven gunmen and five BDB fighters. Locals report that the BDB fighters were on the their way to the nearby Al-Jufra airbase after they had been ambushed by gunmen in Waddan who were loyal to Khalifa Haftar's Dignity Operation meant to clear Libya of his Islamist opponents. It began in May of 2014. Forces loyal to Haftar had attempted earlier in the day to advance into Al-Jufra airbase after a night of intense aerial bombardment. They were repelled by BDB fights on the road between Waddan and Zillah another town in the Al Jufra area where Haftar forces are stationed. After the clashes Haftar forces moved into Waddan while the BDB fighters withdrew into the Al-Jufra air base. There is no city of al Jufra as some tweets and reports suggest. It is an area in central Libya south of Sirte with five main towns Waddan, Zillah, Hun the capital, Sawknahan and Al-Fuqaha as well as the airbase. Zillah and Waddan are under control of forces loyal to Haftar.

There are many tweets describing the situation. One tweet claims: "Libyan Army regains control over Widdan & Sokana South of #Libya after heavy clashes with BDB & Mercenaries from Chad." Another tweet remarks: "LNA is gaining grounds in South Libya. HoR will be taking a much better seat at any future negotiations table" Indeed and the GNA appears to be making no effort to reinforce the BDB forces who appear to be providing the only resistance to Haftar. A third tweet notes: "Controlling Jufra is key to holding the rest of the southern region, where 80% of Libya's oil is produced. GNA well choke over this" The actions of the GNA are hard to decipher. They already gave up without a fight the Tamenhent airbase a key base in the south.

While numerous countries especially in the west support the GNA, none of them are bringing any complaints before the UN security council to condemn Egypt's air strikes and giving support to Haftar's military advances in Libya. Instead Egypt will ask for a meeting of the Council at which it will defend its bombings. Now that's chutzpah as the Israelis would put it. A tweet claims: "#Egypt organizes a June 27 UN security council meeting on combating terrorism in #Libya"

Egypt cooperates with Haftar as it becomes more involved in Libya

Egypt appears to be extending its involvement in Libya by plans for a joint operation against the besieged city of Derna with the forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar commander of the Libyan National Army(LNA).

The LNA are the armed forces associated with the House of Representatives (HoR) government based in Tobruk. The HoR government is a rival to the Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli recognized as the legitimate government of Libya by the UN and many countries. Haftar does not recognize the GNA and regards many of the militia that defend it as his enemies, although recently he has called some who are fighting Islamist forces in Tripoli patriots for fighting Islamist militias he considers his enemies.

The New Arab, an Egyptian opposition website, claims that military special forces backed up by military intelligence members are involved in military preparations in cooperation with the LNA forces of Khalifa Haftar to attack the besieged city of Derna and have Haftar and his Dignity Operation take control of the city. The site also claimed that Egyptian troops had been moved to Haftar military camps by Egyptian airplanes. Egyptian plans are to to provide cover for an upcoming land and there will be two more weeks of additional operations after the attacks according to the New Arab which said: "The attack will target all anti-Dignity Operation groups without any pick and select operations." During the last few days Egyptian planes have attacked Derna twice but also the towns of Hun and Jufra where forces loyal to the GNA are located. This is an obvious extension of the attacks and shows that el-Sisi's explanationfor bombing Derna, that it was bombing camps, where terrorists trained who attacked a bus killing 28 Coptic Christians does not seem to be correct. The attack has been claimed now by the Islamic State which was driven out of Derna ages ago. The subsequent attacks on two new sites in Libya having no connection with Derna or the Coptic attack show that the real reason for Egypt's attack on Derna was simply to help out Haftar whom Egyptian president Abdel el-Sisi strongly supports. The new revelations if true simply confirm that alleged attacks on camps associated with the Coptic camps was just a feeble excuse to cover up the real reason for el-Sisi's act.

The attacks on Derna come days after the LNA announced: "The Libyan National Army (LNA) is to ease its blockade of Derna during Ramadan. Food, medicine, cooking gas and fuel will be allowed into the town which has been under siege for two years." Most press reports forget this. Haftar simply lied. He applauded the Egyptian bombings and it would seem is planning more bombings and a land invasion. This is Haftar's way of easing the blockade of Derna.

Although there is supposed to be a dialogue coming up that will seek to amend the Libya Political Agreement(LPA) according to UN envoy Martin Kobler., no date has been set and events on the ground may make any such meeting irrelevant. Haftar is obviously busy strengthening his position on the ground while others are busy talking. He is even threatening to occupy Tripoli and drive out Islamist militias. He would like to be welcomed by the militias that are loyal to the GNA, the reason he praised the same Tripoli militias he claims need to be routed or disbanded, but that is unlikely.

Haftar says that forces loyal to him in western Libya should be ready to move into Tripoli to free the capital from "Islamist political parties". Haftar made the same call last December. He has also called for cooperation with the PC. The Zintan brigades have answered Haftar's call by announcing that they accompany displaced people(IDPs) returning to Tripoli and defend them. However, the PC of the GNA claims that it had already taken measures for the safe return of IDPs and that the return should be coordinated with security authorities in Tripoli saying: “We warn any group of entering the capital, under any reason, without coordination with the government and its security services.” Haytem Tajouri leader of the Tripoli Revolutionary Brigades said the IDPs were welcome but also warned that they would not allow any armed group in Tripoli. It remains to be seen if the Zintani brigades will try to enter Tripoli. They were driven out back in 2014. Haftar is clearly continuing to pursue a military solution while the UN's Kobler is still promising a dialogue that never seems to actually take place.

Two new Libyan sites appear to have been bombed by Egyptian planes

After carrying out six attacks on the city of Derna in Libya the other day, Egyptian planes may have carried out attacks on the Jufra air base held by Mistratan forces together with members of the Benghazi Defense Brigades (BDB).


The air base was attacked once in the morning and again in the evening. The planes were believed to belong to the Egyptian air force. A nearby headquarters of a separate Misratan unit was also said to have been hit with loud explosions being heard indicating that an ammunition depot may have been hit. There have been no reports of casualties so far. The earlier attacks on Derna were said to be directed at terrorist camps where those responsible for an attack in Egypt that killed 28 Coptic Christians had been trained. As I argued in an earlier Digital Journal article this appears highly unlikely. The attacks on new targets in Libya suggest that the Egyptian president el-Sisi has used the terror attack as an excuse to help out his supporter in Libya Marshal Kahlifa Haftar. The attack in Egypt was claimed by the Islamic State that was driven out of Derna by the Derna Shura Council of Mujahideen some time ago.
The rival government to the Government of National Accord (GNA) the House of Representatives (HoR) in Tobruk expressed support for the earlier Egyptian attacks. In contrast, the Presidential Council)PC) of the GNA called them a violation of Libya's sovereignty which had happened without coordination with the GNA. Even though Egypt gives lip-service to the UN resolution that asserts that the GNA is the sole legitimate government of Libya, it along with the UAE, and Russia also help out the HoR and its military commander Marshal Khalifa Haftar. The PC also said that it was anxious to cooperate with Egypt in the war on terror but that the Derna attacks had no justification whatsover.
On Sunday, several locations in the town of Hun were targeted by air strikes probably by Egyptian planes. There were attacks on the Al-Mujahid Brigade and Tagreft Brigade both of whom had been part of the Al-Bunyan Al-Marsous group that drove the Islamic State from Sirte. The raids also targeted an arms depot of the Tagrefrt Brigade that sent shrapnel throughout the town. Local sources reported: "Many explosions followed the air raids gradually as the ammunition and Grad rockets went off in different areas in the town. One rocket at least was exploded in the former military command building and another went off in the open in Hun." There were no reports of any casualties yet. Egyptian media announced that it was mounting air strikes in Libya but did not say where. It should be eminently clear that Haftar is actually attacking forces that fought against the Islamic State both in Sirte and Derna . The attacks will help prepare the way for ground attacks in both Derna and areas around Jufra. Haftar's air force is not up to the task on its own and el-Sisi is willing to join Haftar's operations in the name of the war on terrorism along with the claim the attacks are in self defence. Egypt has even sent an official notice and defense of the attacks to the UN security council. It will be interesting to see if there will be an emergency meeting of the council to consider the attacks.
Apparently there are new attacks today as reported in a recent tweet: #Libya Report - 3rd day of Egypt air strikes against Libya targets. Meanwhile there have been clashes in Tripoli with militia supporting the GNA against a number from Misrata. As the Tripoli GNA is further weakened by its struggles to control militias in Tripoli Haftar is consolidating his power and taking over more territory as he took over an airbase near Sabah in the south just recently after the Third Force of the GNA abandoned it.

Former Egyptian diplomat claims that Egypt will intervene militarily in Libya

Egypt has for long been a supporter of the House of Representatives(HoR), Al-Thinni government of Abdullah al-Thinni and commander of his armed forces General Khalifa Haftar.

In turn Haftar, has expressed his admiration for Egyptian president Abdel el-Sisi. Egypt is thought to have been responsible for some air attacks in support of Haftar. Egypt's support for Haftar and the HoR comes even as it signs a joint declaration by many countries supporting the position that the UN-backed Government of National Accord(GNA) is the sole legitimate government in Libya. Haftar refuses to recognize the GNA and has been quite critical of Special Representative to the Secretary General (SRSG), Martin Kobler. Other countries such as the UAE, Jordan and Russia also signed the joint declaration but at the same time support Haftar and the HoR.

Former Assistant Foreign Minister of Egypt for Arab Affairs Ahmed Al-Qawisni, claimed that Egypt would need to intervene in Libya militarily to maintain national security. He said the intervention would protect the borders and oil installations. Al-Qawisni said:"When there are Egyptian troops in Libya, the western countries would think twice before intervening. Egypt will not let the oil ports be taken away from the Libyan people." He also referred to the support that Egypt provided Haftar. Qawisni's remarks are quoted in the Libya Observer which is usually opposed to Haftar and the HoR. However, it does seem probably if forces associated with the GNA decided negotiation was fruitless and tried to defeat Haftar that Egypt could very well intervene to see that they did not succeed. The same source suggests that Haftar has drawn up a list of military and political officers to be assassinated because they could challenge his power. The list includes Mihdi Baraghati the defense minister of the GNA government and Ibrahim Jodhran head, or perhaps former head, of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG).

Meanwhile, Haftar has not only repulsed a counter-attack by the PFG on two of the fur oil ports he seized, but has taken several towns occupied by the PFG east of Sirte. He advanced to within 50 kilometers of Sirte. At the same time he is extending his power by replacing civilian authorities by military commanders in several cities including Benghazi, Ajdabiya, and Al Kufra. The next move may be on the city of Tobruk, where HoR is located. According to a recent tweet: "In a new development, the mayor of Tubrok asks for a military governor to replace him." Perhaps someone suggested to the mayor that this might be a good idea.

General Khalifa Haftar visits both Cairo and Moscow seeking support

Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) General Khalifa Haftar, is in Moscow on a visit after a meeting in Cairo. The LNA is associated with the Tobruk-based House of Representatives (HoR).

Haftar and his delegation traveled to Cairo by private jet from Tobruk with a nine-member military delegation. He was expected to meet with a Russian delegation there. He stayed only a day and then flew on to Moscow.

Sputnik reports on his visit to Moscow. Haftar is called "the Libyan armed forces commander," a phrase that is interesting since only the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) is recognized by the UN and most of the international community. Neither the HoR nor Haftar recognize the GNA. Russia seems to be at the same time expressing support for the GNA but not recognizing it as fully legitimate until there is a vote of confidence by the HoR. To the Russians its term has not started even though it has been up and running for some time in Tripoli, at least in the naval base. It seems to lack control over the many militia. The agenda of the visit was not disclosed.

Another report said Haftar had been in Cairo to seek support for Operation Dignity and his fight against terrorist militia in Libya. Abu Baira, a member of the HoR said that Haftar's visit to Egypt comes within the framework of continuing consultations with Egyptian authorities. Baira said: “Afterwards, he went to Russia to seek support for the Libyan army against the militias.” The report notes that the international community is making moves to partially lift the arms embargo imposed on Libya. However, the UN is not likely to authorize any arms sales to Haftar unless he agrees to join a unified force with the GNA and approve the unity government.

There are signs that some deal with Haftar may be in the making. Haftar has changed his position on working with militia loyal to the GNA and also his critical view of Misrata militia. On the other hand, the GNA head Faiez Serraj is emphasizing the need for a unified command with all Libyan forces, and this would include Haftar and the GNA. Serraj said: "We are convinced that the only way to end this organisation (IS) is through a united military command that brings together all Libyans from every region of the country." This is a strange statement to make given that the Islamic State is virtually defeated as it is surrounded by forces loyal to the GNA in Sirte and this was achieved without any unification with Haftar forces,. Haftar has not taken part in the Sirte offensive at all after announcing more than three weeks ago that he would liberate Sirte. The statement shows though that Serraj is anxious to have Haftar on board. This view may not be shared by some other members of the GNA.

According to the Libya Herald, Haftar is in Moscow in part to seek spare parts for warplanes along with fresh weaponry. Haftar had preliminary talks with the Russians while in Cairo. From the Egyptians he is said to have received promises of support in training and logistics but also weapons supplies. Haftar has visited Moscow previously and seems to have achieved the indirect delivery of four helicopter gunships Mi-35s. The helicopters may have been delivered through the UAE which apparently does not use them. While Russia is not likely to openly violate the UN arms embargo on Libya it could provide Haftar with intelligence and technical support. Perhaps it could also provide weapons surreptitiously through the UAE as well.

There are reports that the president of the HoR, Ageela Saleh also went to Russia. If he did so the meeting of the HoR planned for today will no doubt be canceled. Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG), had tweeted yesterday that he was going to Tobruk to encourage HoR members to vote confidence in the GNA. So far there are no reports of what is going on if anything.