N’DJAMENA/BENGHAZI: Chad announced on Thursday that it has closed its border with Libya due to the threat of a “potential terrorist infiltration” and is boosting its military presence in the region.
“Faced with the perils that threaten all of the nation’s territory, the government decided for one thing to close our land border with Libya, and for another to declare the regions bordering Libya military operation zones,” said Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacket in a message broadcast on radio and television.
The Tibesti desert border regions are sparsely populated but are used for dealing in contraband by those living on both sides of the border, mainly the ethnic Tubu people.
The premier said that the measures were taken because “following their defeat, some isolated terrorist groups have gathered in the south of Libya, putting the northern frontier of our country potentially exposed to a serious threat of a terrorist infiltration.”
He did not, however, provide information on the identity of these “terrorist groups” or what “defeat” they suffered in Libya.
The North African country has been mired in chaos since the 2011 downfall of longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
Warplanes under the command of a rival Libyan army general have attacked an air base under the control of the UN-backed government in a central area south of the country’s Mediterranean coast, officials said on Wednesday.
In a statement, the Tripoli-based government said “several” government-allied troops were wounded when an aircraft they were traveling in was struck in the attack by the eastern-based forces.
Libya fell into chaos following the 2011 ouster and killing of longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi. It remains divided between east and west, with no effective government and a multitude of rival factions and militias.
Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, the military strongman in question, answers to Libya’s Parliament that is based in the east. That Parliament is at odds with the Tripoli government, which it doesn’t recognize.
Internal conflicts are escalating even as Daesh militants have been driven out of the central coastal city of Sirte, which had been the extremist group’s last bastion in the country.
The Libyan National Army, led by Hifter, said the attacks, hit Al-Jufra air base on Tuesday and Wednesday, destroying a C-130 military aircraft that was carrying ammunitions and forces loyal to loyal to Misrata militias when it landed, and a militia leadership meeting, resulting in one killed and eight wounded. The militias nominally back the Tripoli government, and are believed to receive arms from Turkey.
At a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi, army spokesman Col. Ahmed Mosmary demanded the militias withdraw from the south or face continued attacks.
In a statement on Wednesday that did not mention the attacks specifically, the UN’s envoy to Libya warned against the risk of escalation leading to renewed conflict in the North African nation.
“I urge all parties to act with restraint and to resolve issues through peaceful dialogue,” Martin Kobler said, urging renewed efforts to find solutions to the political crisis and the Tripoli government’s difficulties in exercising authority over the country.
On Monday, a prominent member of the presidential council of the UN-backed government resigned, citing the inability of the government to rule the country — a major blow to the fledgling body.
Last week, the deputy head of the presidential council, Fathi Al-Mijabri, issued a decree to appoint one of his loyal supporters as the head of the intelligence services, stoking the ire of other members who called his move illegal.
In a separate televised news conference, also Wednesday, Prime Minister Fayez Al-Serraj rescinded recent decrees issued by Al-Mijabri, Including all appointments of security officials, and urged the council member who resigned, Musa Al-Kouni, to reconsider the move.
Chad is seen as a key ally of the West in its fight against militants in Africa. President Idriss Deby Itno is supported by France and the US, who need the cooperation of the Chadian military in the region.
The country is part of the regional alliance fighting Boko Haram militants who have spread their insurgency from northern Nigeria to the border regions of neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
“Faced with the perils that threaten all of the nation’s territory, the government decided for one thing to close our land border with Libya, and for another to declare the regions bordering Libya military operation zones,” said Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacket in a message broadcast on radio and television.
The Tibesti desert border regions are sparsely populated but are used for dealing in contraband by those living on both sides of the border, mainly the ethnic Tubu people.
The premier said that the measures were taken because “following their defeat, some isolated terrorist groups have gathered in the south of Libya, putting the northern frontier of our country potentially exposed to a serious threat of a terrorist infiltration.”
He did not, however, provide information on the identity of these “terrorist groups” or what “defeat” they suffered in Libya.
The North African country has been mired in chaos since the 2011 downfall of longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
Warplanes under the command of a rival Libyan army general have attacked an air base under the control of the UN-backed government in a central area south of the country’s Mediterranean coast, officials said on Wednesday.
In a statement, the Tripoli-based government said “several” government-allied troops were wounded when an aircraft they were traveling in was struck in the attack by the eastern-based forces.
Libya fell into chaos following the 2011 ouster and killing of longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi. It remains divided between east and west, with no effective government and a multitude of rival factions and militias.
Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, the military strongman in question, answers to Libya’s Parliament that is based in the east. That Parliament is at odds with the Tripoli government, which it doesn’t recognize.
Internal conflicts are escalating even as Daesh militants have been driven out of the central coastal city of Sirte, which had been the extremist group’s last bastion in the country.
The Libyan National Army, led by Hifter, said the attacks, hit Al-Jufra air base on Tuesday and Wednesday, destroying a C-130 military aircraft that was carrying ammunitions and forces loyal to loyal to Misrata militias when it landed, and a militia leadership meeting, resulting in one killed and eight wounded. The militias nominally back the Tripoli government, and are believed to receive arms from Turkey.
At a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi, army spokesman Col. Ahmed Mosmary demanded the militias withdraw from the south or face continued attacks.
In a statement on Wednesday that did not mention the attacks specifically, the UN’s envoy to Libya warned against the risk of escalation leading to renewed conflict in the North African nation.
“I urge all parties to act with restraint and to resolve issues through peaceful dialogue,” Martin Kobler said, urging renewed efforts to find solutions to the political crisis and the Tripoli government’s difficulties in exercising authority over the country.
On Monday, a prominent member of the presidential council of the UN-backed government resigned, citing the inability of the government to rule the country — a major blow to the fledgling body.
Last week, the deputy head of the presidential council, Fathi Al-Mijabri, issued a decree to appoint one of his loyal supporters as the head of the intelligence services, stoking the ire of other members who called his move illegal.
In a separate televised news conference, also Wednesday, Prime Minister Fayez Al-Serraj rescinded recent decrees issued by Al-Mijabri, Including all appointments of security officials, and urged the council member who resigned, Musa Al-Kouni, to reconsider the move.
Chad is seen as a key ally of the West in its fight against militants in Africa. President Idriss Deby Itno is supported by France and the US, who need the cooperation of the Chadian military in the region.
The country is part of the regional alliance fighting Boko Haram militants who have spread their insurgency from northern Nigeria to the border regions of neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
