On 26 April, the group known as the South Liberation Operations Room (SLOR) announced the launch of operations against Libyan National Army (LNA) units in the South and urged all southerners within LNA ranks to leave immediately. In a video statement, SLOR commander Mohamed Warduko announced that the group’s military capability and morals remain intact, despite the recent attack by LNA.
Warduko stressed that the SLOR categorically rejects Boulos’s proposed power-sharing deal, reiterating that whoever wants to rule Libya must go through fair and free elections, and all military candidates must resign first to run for presidential elections. Another statement was given in the video by Mukhtar al-Sunni al-Shreedey, an Awlad Suleiman leader, stressing that the SLOR comprises all southern tribes and communities and the group’s objective is to liberate the south from Haftar’s forces.
This comes as the LNA has been ramping up security efforts in the southern region.
On 22 April, the LNA Chief of the General Staff Khaled Haftar met with LNA officers from the southern region during the South Officers’ Forum held in Sabha, in the commander of the Southern Military Zone, General Ahmed Salem, and a number of LNA leaders.
On 23 April, Khaled Haftar met with the Government of National Stability (GNS) Minister of African Affairs, Issa Abdul Majid, and several security leaders from the Tebu community. Khaled emphasized the importance of ongoing coordination and cooperation between security forces and military units in the southern regions. He ‘commended the security personnel from various tribes who contribute to this effort, including members of the Tebu tribe, who have not hesitated to defend the homeland, sacrificing their lives for it, fighting terrorism and contributing to its defeat. ’ Khaled promised to resolve any obstacles in order to facilitate reconstruction and security.