The Libyan National Accord government revealed the numbers of Russian mercenaries who are deployed in the Al-Jufra region in support of retired Major General Khalifa Hifter, and pledged to cleanse Libya of them after calling for international sanctions against them and others, and said that they pose a threat to Libyan national security.
Military sources from Al-Wefaq forces confirmed to the island the deployment of about 3,500 mercenaries from the Russian Wagner Company in the cities and administrative areas of the Al-Jafra region in central Libya, in which there is an air base that the US Forces Africa Command (AFRICOM) recently said that Russia has deployed warplanes in support of its ally Haftar .
The sources added that these mercenaries control the Al-Jafra air base and camps where the airstrips are located.
She added that large numbers of Wagner mercenaries are stationed in the form of armed groups on civilian farms and neighborhoods in the cities of Al-Jafra.
For his part, Al-Jazeera correspondent Ahmed Khalifa stated that Russian mercenaries have installed Choise antennas in anticipation of air strikes by the Al-Wefaq government, and they boasted surrounding the base of Al-Jafra. The internationally recognized Libyan government had pledged - after the expulsion of Haftar forces from the southern suburbs of Tripoli and the city of Tarhuna near the capital - to restore the coastal city of Sirte (450 km east of Tripoli) and the Jafra airbase, which is located south towards central Libya.
The correspondent said that these mercenaries operate flights from Al-Jufrah to other bases in eastern and southern Libya, adding that it can be said that the Al-Jufra base is now Russian.
He continued that the Wagner Company mercenaries are also deployed to the west of the city of Sirte, and they are now forming a solid bloc in the forces that have deployed there in anticipation of an attack by the Al-Wefaq Forces, and that alongside the Russian militants are also stationed in the vicinity of Sirte, elements of the Sudanese and Chadian factions.
And the operation of the wrath volcano of the Al-Wefaq government published pictures of mercenaries from the Russian Wagner company, wandering in the city of Soknah in the region of Al-Jafra, and said on its Facebook page that Soknah is only several kilometers from the base of Al-Jafra air base.
The National Oil Corporation in Tripoli yesterday announced the presence of Russian mercenaries from Wagner and Janjaweed in the Sharara oil field southwest of Libya, and said that a convoy of dozens of military vehicles entered the field, which is the largest oil field in Libya, to prevent the resumption of exports after a siege that lasted 5 Months.
(Communication sites)
Cleanse Libya
Meanwhile, the Libyan Foreign Ministry announced today that the Al-Wefaq government continues to purge the country of mercenaries and their supporters, in order to preserve Libyan national security.
In a statement, she warned that the presence of these groups, which she described as terrorist, from Wagner, the Janjaweed and others, was a threat to Libya's national security.
The Libyan Foreign Ministry called on countries that have oil companies in Libya to cooperate to expose the violations of mercenaries and the countries that support them.
The Minister of the Interior of the Libyan government, Al-Wefaq, Fathi Pashaga, had called yesterday for the European Union to include the Russian Wagens Company in the sanctions regulations, due to the crimes it committed against humanity in Libya, according to the expression Pashaga.
The Libyan minister warned in a tweet that the control of Wagner's mercenaries over the Libyan oil fields threatens the country's national security, and undermines the interests of all American and European companies operating in the Libyan oil sector.
Pashaga described the control of the Wagens mercenaries over the Sharara oil field - the largest in Libya - along with a group of the Janjaweed, as "a dangerous precedent in controlling the foreign mercenaries of the Libyans", adding that an Arab country - which he did not name - supported Haftar in his attack on Tripoli, and funded Wagner. "Complicit in the crime of locking Libyan oil supplies."
For his part, Libya's delegate to the United Nations, Taher Al-Sunni, said that it is time for the United States and the European Union to impose direct sanctions on mercenary groups from Wagner, the Janjaweed and Haftar, freeze their assets and those who finance them, and called for their classification within the terrorist entities.
In the context, the United States expressed its concern about the involvement of Wagner and foreign mercenaries against the facilities of the National Oil Corporation, including the Sharara field, and the United Nations expressed deep concern about the presence of mercenaries in the Sharara field, all foreign forces and militants, and the continued sending of weapons to Libya.
The political solution
Politically, during their meeting today in Rome, the Prime Minister of the Libyan National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte renewed the agreement that the solution to the Libyan crisis could not be military.
Al-Sarraj and Conte stressed in a meeting between them in the Italian capital, Rome, that everyone should work through a political path that achieves stability, in accordance with the Security Council resolution and the outputs of the Berlin Conference.
Al-Sarraj and Conti agreed to form a committee to follow up the return of Italian companies to resume their activities in Libya, and Italy's continued contribution to the demining process that started days ago.
In Rome, Al-Sarraj also discussed with Stephanie Williams, Acting Secretary-General of the United Nations in Libya, lifting the closure of oil sites and resuming oil production in the country.
Al-Sarraj's talks in Rome come days after Italian Foreign Minister Luigi de Mayo's visit to Tripoli, as part of a diplomatic move to stop the fighting in Libya and establish a political settlement.
After calls by the European Union, the United States and Arab countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron joined yesterday those demanding a cease-fire in Libya and a return to the dialogue table.
Dismantling the militias
In turn, the leadership of the American forces in Africa said that it continues to cooperate bilaterally with the Libyan government, and has strong ties with it.
The Libyan February Channel quoted AFRICOM leadership that the US position on the current crisis is that peace in Libya must be achieved through a political process.
She noted that the participation of the Russian Wagner Security Company in Libya is delaying the peace and prolonging the suffering of the Libyans, and indicated that she assured the Libyan Government of Conciliation the importance of returning to dialogue.
The US State Department called yesterday for the dismantling of militias in eastern and western Libya, after the end of the Tripoli blockade weeks ago.
The ministry said in a statement that the American delegation, which met on a television circuit last Wednesday, Minister of Interior of the Government of Al-Wefaq Fathi Pashaga, discussed the dismantling of armed militias, the immediate ceasefire in the country and a return to political and security negotiations.