International actors
Tracking developments of international actors in Libya’s security space including military activity, the presence of foreign operatives and diplomacy pertaining to Libya’s security.
Head of the CIA visits Tripoli and Benghazi
On 12 January, US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Williams Burns arrived in Tripoli to meet with the Government of National Unity (GNU) Prime Minister, Abdul Hameed Dabaiba. They reportedly discussed Libya’s relationship with Russia, current...
UNSMIL, US, and France call for HoR and HSC to reach timely agreement
The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) released a statement soon after the House of Representatives (HoR) Speaker Aqeela Saleh and the High State Council (HSC) Head Khaled Mishri held a meeting in Cairo on 5 January. UNSMIL called on the HoR and HSC to promptly...
Libyan Coast Guard intercepts boat carrying 700 migrants off coast of Moura
On 30 December, the Libyan Coast Guard reported that they had intercepted a boat carrying at least 700 migrants off the coast of Moura, 90km west of Benghazi. According to the Libyan Coast Guard, the migrants found to have entered Libya illegally would be handed over...
LNA pilot killed in Syria plane crash
On 29 December, Syrian media reported that a Libyan pilot was killed when an L-39 jet crashed in the vicinity of Kuweires Military Airport, east of Aleppo, Syria which is under the control of the Assad regime. The plane was reportedly on a training exercise and...
UNSMIL rejects ‘fake news’ about Bathily’s readiness to announce a new roadmap
On 28 December 2022, the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) released a statement rejecting ‘fake news’ that UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) Abdoulaye Bathily was planning to announce a new roadmap and form a new Libyan government. UNSMIL...
Bathily hints at alternative mechanism should the HoR and HSC not finalise basis for elections
On 16 December, UN Special Envoy to Libya and Head of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Abdoulaye Bathily, addressed the UN Security Council (UNSC). Bathily expressed concern about signs of a partition in Libya, calling on Libya’s political rivals (i.e., the...
Maltese police intercept British private military contractors en route to Libya
On 15 December, the Maltese newspaper MaltaToday reported that a group of 14 British private military contractors (PMCs) were intercepted by Maltese police on 10 December before boarding a private flight to Libya. The men were later released without charge, but they...
MSF rescues 90 people off the coast of Libya
On 6 December, the international NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known as Doctors without Borders, announced that they had rescued 90 people off of Libya’s coast. They reported that 90 people were on a rubber boat that had left Libya on the evening of 5...
Reports of Russian grain sent to Libya from occupied areas in Ukraine
On 3 December, Bloomberg reported that Russian vessels had been exporting grain from Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine to Libya and Iran. According to Bloomberg’s reporting, Russia used a complex means to disguise their activities involving floating cranes and feeder...