Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Haftar push in south Libya sparks backlash

1126877
1126877
minus
plus

Benghazi: A military push in southern Libya which strongman Khalifa Haftar says is aimed at rooting out “terrorists” and foreign fighters has sparked backlash from an ethnic minority and the UN-backed government.


The offensive risks fuelling tensions in a country already wracked by violence and torn between rival administrations since the overthrow and killing of Muammar Gadaffi in 2011.


A power struggle between the UN-backed government in Tripoli and a parallel administration supported by Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) in the east have left the country’s vast desert south a lawless no-man’s land.


The rugged territory, which shares borders with Algeria, Niger, Chad and Sudan, has become a haven for fighters and armed groups of all stripes.


They include Chadian fighters accused of fuelling insecurity and taking advantage of the country’s porous borders to establish rear bases.


The LNA in mid-January announced the start of an offensive intended to “purge the south of terrorists and criminal groups”, including fighters from Chad.


Days later, Haftar’s forces claimed they had killed an Al Qaeda leader and two other “terrorists”, including an Egyptian, before attacking the fighters .


The region is also the scene of a struggle between Libya’s minority Tubu community and Arab tribes, particularly over the control of cross-border smuggling routes.


Dozens were killed in clashes between the two sides until a 2017 peace accord signed in Rome froze hostilities. But some fear Haftar’s offensive could re-ignite the conflict.


Libya’s Tubu, part of a larger cross-border ethnic group, have long railed against discrimination in the predominantly Arab country.


Some of its members accuse the LNA, which counts Tubu fighters among its ranks, of directing rival Arab tribes to enter their communities.


Youssef Kalkouri, a Tubu lawmaker in the eastern Haftar-backed administration, said his community categorically opposes Arab tribal forces entering their cities.


Haftar’s forces said on Friday they had battled Chadian fighters in the town of Ghudduwah south of Sebha, 650 kilometres south of Tripoli, before calling in air strikes against the insurgents on Sunday.


But Tubu say they too were targeted.


The weekend strikes prompted one Tubu minister in the eastern administration to resign and another Tubu lawmaker in the same body to suspend her role.


Both spoke out against the “ethnic cleansing” of their community.


LNA spokesman General Ahmed al Mesmari denounced what he called a “media campaign”.


“Our Tubu brothers fight with us,” he said, hailing the “heroism” of the LNA, which was “clearing the south of terrorism, chaos and foreign elements”.


Analyst Jalal al Fitouri said the Tubu are divided.


“One party refuses the presence of Chadian fighters and supports the LNA, while others support the (fighters ) and profit with them from smuggling and human trafficking.”


Analysts say the LNA’s military push may also be linked to oil interests in the south, where the Tubu control important fields.


The LNA said late on Wednesday it had seized one of the country’s biggest oil fields without a fight.


— AFP


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon