Libyan National Army

See also: Libyan Army (1951–2011) and Libyan Army

Libyan National Army
الجيش العربي الليبي
Also known asLibyan National Army[2]
Libyan Arab Army[3][4]
Haftar Armed Forces[5]
Supreme CommanderKhalifa Haftar
Commander-in-chiefMohammed al-Menfi
Chief of General StaffAbdulrazek al-Nadoori
Dates of operation2014–present
AllegianceLibya House of Representatives
HeadquartersTobruk, Libya
Active regionsEastern and central Libya
IdeologyArab nationalism[6]
Secularism[7]
Anti-imperialism[8]
Madkhalism (factions)[9]
Gaddafism (factions)[9]
Size25,000[10]–85,000+[11]
AlliesState allies:
Libya Government of National Stability
 Egypt[12]
 United Arab Emirates[13]
 Syria[14][15]
 Saudi Arabia[16]
 Russia[13]
 United States[17]
 United Kingdom[18]
 Morocco
Non-state allies:
Sudan Rapid Support Forces[19]
Wagner Group[20]
 Hezbollah (allegedly, denied by LNA)[21][22]
OpponentsState opponents:
Libya Government of National Accord
Libya Government of National Unity (since 2022)
 Turkey[23]
 Qatar[24]
 Algeria
Non-state opponents:
Syrian opposition Syrian National Army[25]
Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries
 Islamic State
Muslim Brotherhood[26]
 Hamas[27]
Battles and wars
List
Flag

The Libyan National Army (LNA; Arabic: الجيش الوطني الليبي, al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii) or the Libyan Arab Army (LAA; Arabic: الجيش العربي الليبي, al-Jaysh al-'Arabiyy al-Lībii)[3] is a component of Libya's military forces which were nominally a unified national force under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar when he was nominated to the role on 2 March 2015[28] by the House of Representatives, consisting at the time of a ground force, an air force and a navy.

In 2014, LNA launched Operation Dignity, a military campaign against the General National Congress and armed militias and Islamist militant organizations. When the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) was established in Tripoli, part of the Libyan military forces were named the Libyan Army to contrast with the other part that retained the LNA identity. In the Second Libyan Civil War, the LNA was loyal to that part of the Libyan House of Representatives that met in Tobruk, internationally recognised until October 2015. It fights against the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, as well as Islamic State in Libya which was a common enemy for both LNA and the Libyan Army.

About half of the LNA consists of militias[2][29] including Madkhali (Salafist) militias[30] and Sudanese, Chadian[2][29] and Russian mercenaries, which together constitute part of the LNA's effective forces.[31] The LNA possesses its own air force. Most of the Libyan Navy is loyal to the GNA.[32][29]

Interventions in the political system by the LNA include the late 2016 replacement of nine elected municipal councils out of a total of 27, replacing elected mayors by mostly military individuals[33][34][35] and, according to witnesses cited by The Independent, the 17 July 2019 abduction of House of Representatives member Seham Sergiwa at her home in Benghazi by the 106th Brigade.[36][37] The LNA stated that it was not responsible for the Sergiwa abduction.[36]

  1. ^ "Haftar agrees to Libya ceasefire ahead of Berlin talks". Middle East Online. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference ISPI_Delalande_201805 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference WashPost_LAAF was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ThisIsAfrica_LAAF was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference UNPanelExperts_S_2019_914 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Foreign meddling and west's impotence fuel Libyan chaos". www.ft.com. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  7. ^ Kirkpatrick, David D.; Prickett, Ivor (20 February 2020). "A Police State With an Islamist Twist: Inside Hifter's Libya". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  8. ^ Atalayar (3 August 2020). "Haftar warns that Libya will "never" accept "Turkish colonialism"". Atalayar. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  9. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference SANA_WhoWhom_Tripoli was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Forces on the Libyan ground: Who is Who". ISPI. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  11. ^ "حوار سياسي | المسماري لـ«الشرق الأوسط»: وجود عناصر لـ«حزب الله» أو للأسد في ليبيا «أكاذيب إخوانية»". aawsat.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Libya: GNA calls Egypt's military threat 'declaration of war'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Khalifa Haftar: The Libyan general with big ambitions". BBC News. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  14. ^ Vohra, Anchal (5 May 2020). "It's Syrian vs. Syrian in Libya". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  15. ^ Pamuk, Humeyra (7 May 2020). "U.S. says Russia is working with Syria's Assad to move militia to Libya". Reuters. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  16. ^ "UAE, Saudi Arabia aiding Libya eastern forces, blacklisting Qatar for alleged support for other Libyans". The Libya Observer. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  17. ^ Eltagouri*, Yousuf (6 May 2019). "Trump's Embrace of Haftar Will Reignite Libya's Proxy War | Beyond the Horizon ISSG". Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  18. ^ "Boris Johnson backs Khalifa Haftar's fight against 'terror' in Libya". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  19. ^ "Sudan crisis: The ruthless mercenaries who run the country for gold". BBC News. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Wagner, shadowy Russian military group, 'fighting in Libya'". BBC. 7 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  21. ^ "The Iran-Haftar links in Libya". Warsaw Institute. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  22. ^ "حوار سياسي | المسماري لـ«الشرق الأوسط»: وجود عناصر لـ«حزب الله» أو للأسد في ليبيا «أكاذيب إخوانية»". aawsat.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  23. ^ "France's Macron slams Turkey's 'criminal' role in Libya". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  24. ^ Ash, Nigel (14 March 2017). "Abdulrahman Sewehli thanks Qatari emir for his support". LibyaHerald.
  25. ^ "300 pro-Turkey Syrian rebels sent to Libya to support UN-backed gov't: watchdog - Xinhua | English.news.cn". 29 December 2019. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  26. ^ "Libyan parl't votes to ban Muslim Brotherhood, designates it 'terrorist group'". EgyptToday. 14 May 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  27. ^ "Hamas dismisses claims it has fighters in Libya". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  28. ^ "Libyan parliament confirms Haftar as army chief". Al Jazeera. 2 March 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  29. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference JPack_Kingdom_Militias was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ "Sirte falls to Haftar's forces, thanks to a Madkhali brigade from the inside | The Libya Observer". libyaobserver.ly. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  31. ^ Burke, Jason; Salih, Zeinab Mohammed (24 December 2019). "Mercenaries flock to Libya raising fears of prolonged war". the Guardian. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference Anadolu_5migrants_die_Libya was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ Cite error: The named reference TalbotDenehy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  34. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mayors_overthrown was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  35. ^ Cite error: The named reference UNDP_CCMCE_plan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  36. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Indep_106th_Brigade_Sergiwa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  37. ^ Cite error: The named reference CNN_Sergewa_abducted was invoked but never defined (see the help page).