Libyan National Army arrive at southern border to tackle Chad

On July 8th, the Libyan National Army’s War Information Division released a statement confirming that elite units had arrived at the 17 Border Crossing with Chad in the mission to tackle security threats, as reported by the Libya Review on July 9th.

These new reinforcements on the border come following a successful operation carried out by the Libyan National Army on the southern border with Chad against an opposition militia. The Chadian militia suffered heavy losses of personnel and several militants were captured. The Libyan National Army is still using ground and aerial reconnaissance to identify remaining members of the opposition militia, according to Libya Review.

Since 2011 Libya has been suffering a humanitarian and political crisis, with violent conflict arising across the nation, and two rival administrations in the western capital city Tripoli and the eastern port city Tobruk.

The Libyan National is based in Tobruk and closely politically aligned with the eastern government.

The statement released on July 8th explained that the Libyan National Army aims to secure the border, control border movements and respond directly to threats like smuggling networks and cross-border organized crime groups.

The military’s statement also pledged to fulfill its national duty by securing southern Libya and protecting national sovereignty, both non-negotiable priorities.

Libya also shares a southern border with Sudan, where Maghrebi reported on June 30th there is a high security threat due to the armed militia group the Rapid Supports Forces establishing themselves there, making the Libyan National Army’s mission of securing the southern border more urgent.

The lack of state authority in the southern region of Libya means that the southern border is weakly monitored and therefore illicit activity is commonplace and will likely increase irregular migration into Libya, a nation which is already straining under heavy migration due to refugees from the neighbouring Sudan and the northern border being used as a route to Europe for migrants.

Libya Review, Maghrebi.org