Africa-Press. The General Command of eastern Libyan forces affiliated with Khalifa Haftar announced on Monday the death of three of its members, along with the injury and capture of others, following an armed attack that targeted its positions in the south of the country near the border with Niger at dawn on Saturday.
In an official statement posted on its Facebook page, the command said the attack targeted the Al-Toum border crossing, the Wadi Bagra point, and the Salvador site, describing the assault as “cowardly” and accusing groups it described as “mercenaries and outlawed armed terrorist gangs” of carrying it out.
In a video circulating on social media, one of the attackers said the operation aimed to “correct the course of the 17 February revolution”, which overthrew the rule of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, citing the deterioration of conditions in the south, including fuel shortages and a lack of basic services.
The statement said the fallen soldiers “were martyred while carrying out their national duty to protect the country’s borders and combat smuggling and organised crime”. It added that the armed forces had recently dealt “painful blows” to these groups by cutting off supply and smuggling routes.
The General Command confirmed that its forces had “fully re-secured the targeted sites” and that search and pursuit operations remain ongoing. Preliminary information indicates that the attackers fled towards Nigerien territory, and efforts are underway to locate them and “deal with them as required by the situation”, according to the statement.
Libya is currently divided between two rival governments: the internationally recognised Government of National Unity led by Abdelhamid Dbeibah and based in Tripoli, which controls western Libya, and another government appointed by the House of Representatives in early 2022, led by Osama Hammad and based in Benghazi, which administers eastern Libya and most southern cities.
For years, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya has been leading efforts aimed at holding elections to resolve the country’s ongoing power struggle between the two rival administrations.
