Forces of eastern Libyan commander General Khalifa Haftar have reportedly received urban guerrilla warfare training from Israel’s Special Forces on Libyan soil after crossing into the war-torn country from Egypt, according to a new bombshell report.
Coordination courtesy of Egypt
According to a report by the Arabic-language news website The New Arab, citing sources in Libya and Egypt, Israel’s military are said to have crossed into the Haftar-occupied eastern Libya in coordination with Egypt, marking the first such incident, in order to provide guerrilla training to Haftar forces, in accordance with a security agreement signed by the two parties.
Israeli soldiers provided training to Haftar’s fighters on Libyan soil throughout the months of August and September 2019 following their crossover into the eastern parts of the country.
Target: Tripoli
Haftar was unable to capture Tripoli following an assault launched back in April despite receiving support from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and France, in addition to training for his forces from Israel.
Found to be tactically lacking against GNA forcces, it was decided that Haftar’s fighters would secretly receive guerrilla warfare training from Israel with the aim of facilitating the capture of Tripoli.
Military reinforcements in 2018
Khalifa Haftar had held several covert meetings with the Israeli government and the Mossad that were arranged by his main backers in the UAE.
In the aftermath of meetings held in the summer of 2018, Haftar received night vision equipment and sniper rifles from Israel as part of a military munitions shipment.
A warplane belonging to forces loyal to the East Libya-based military commander was also downed Saturday and its pilot captured.
As a result, the number of warplanes belonging to Haftar forces that have been shot down rose to 15.
In April, Haftar’s forces launched a military campaign to capture Tripoli from the GNA but have so far failed to progress beyond the city’s outskirts.
According to UN data, over 1,000 people have been killed since the start of the operation and more than 5,000 injured.
Since the ouster of late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: one in eastern Libya supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and another in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.
