As Libya makes progress towards peace through renewed efforts to resolve the country’s decadelong conflict, East-based Putist General Khalifa Haftar continues to acquire weapons and ammunition, according to the Libyan army.
The army on Wednesday stated that two Egyptian planes that landed at Libya’s southern Sabha International Airport had brought weapons and ammunition to Haftar.
Abdulhadi Dirah, a spokesman for the Libyan army’s Sirte-Jufra Joint Operations Unit, said the weapons were hidden in a variety of drugs.
Dirah said: “Two of the Egyptian C-130 planes landed at Sabha airport in a hurry to take medicine but took with them weapons and ammunition.”
He added that the kit contained a small number of drugs, while most of the shipment consisted of weapons.
On Tuesday, the Libyan Ministry of Health from the National Unity Government announced in a statement the arrival of two shipments of drugs to Libya via Sabha International Airport.
The TV for Haftar Al Hadath reported the same day that a transport of drugs arrived in Sabha through coordination between Haftar and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.
In the Libyan conflict, Haftar and his eastern-based illegal forces are mainly supported by Egypt, Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Recently, sources told the Daily Sabah that Haftar would also receive 300 Syrian militias from the Russian Wagner group.
The 300 fighters will be sent from Bashar Assad regime-controlled Deir el-Zour to fight with Haftar, according to security sources on the ground, adding that the group is currently training in Syria and will be sent to eastern Libya’s Benghazi by the end of April.
The warring factions in Libya reached a ceasefire agreement in October that virtually ended the war and paved the way for UN-led political talks. These talks then led to the appointment of an interim government in February before the election later this year.
Libyans hope that it will end years of civil war that have plagued the country since the death and killing of strongman Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
Foreign mercenaries and weapons have flowed into the country since Haftar launched its offensive, with Russia and the United Arab Emirates serving as the putschist general’s best suppliers.
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