Khalifa Haftar

The mayor of Derna and seven other top officials have been arrested for negligence in connection with the catastrophic flood.

At least 2,000 fatalities have been reported in Libya’s eastern city of Derna after dams burst in a torrential rainstorm.

Libya’s state-run National Oil Corporation (NOC) announced on Monday that militia fighters shut down the Sharara oil field, the largest in the country, plus another vital oil field at el-Feel.

Reuters on Thursday pointed to a particularly grim indicator of Libyan government malfunction: a pile of 742 dead Islamic State fighters have been rotting in refrigerated food containers outside the city of Misrata since 2016 – and growing quite fragrant due to intermittent power outages. Some of the bodies are foreign nationals who remain uncollected by their home governments.

An appeals court reinstated the presidential candidacy of Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, son of late dictator Muammar Qaddafi, after he was disqualified from running in this month’s Libyan presidential election.

Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, son of late dictator Muammar Qaddafi, was disqualified Wednesday from running in Libya’s upcoming presidential election.

Libyan Gen. Khalifa Haftar announced on Tuesday that he is officially a candidate for the presidency of the government he tried to overthrow by force less than two years ago.

Libya’s eastern “parliament” – essentially a rival government based in Tobruk, with its own Libyan National Army (LNA) headed by warlord Khalifa Haftar – voted on Tuesday to withdraw its confidence from the “unity government” in Tripoli.

The Libyan National Army (LNA), the military force loyal to warlord Khalifa Haftar, reported losing two helicopters on Sunday during a military operation against their former allies, the front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT).

Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, who laid siege to the capital city of Tripoli for 14 months until Turkish military intervention pushed his forces back in June 2020, has hired former Bill Clinton senior aide Lanny Davis and former Republican congressman Bob Livingston of Louisiana as lobbyists. Haftar is apparently trying to exert some influence over the next Libyan election, or possibly run for the presidency himself.

The Turkish parliament approved a plan Tuesday that would keep Turkish forces deployed in Libya for another 18 months.

Forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA) seized a Jamaica-flagged Turkish cargo ship in the Mediterranean on Monday, angering the Turkish government and potentially reigniting the Libyan civil war after a tentative truce was established in October.

The Pentagon released a report this month accusing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of supporting Russian mercenaries fighting in Libya for rebel leader Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA).

A prominent and outspoken lawyer in Benghazi fell victim to an apparent politically motivated killing in the Libyan city on November 10, Human Rights Watch reports.

The U.K. Guardian on Wednesday published the results of a joint investigation with journalism website Bellingcat and the Lighthouse Reports nonprofit group into Libyan arms sales.

Faiez Mustafa Serraj – prime minister of Libya’s internationally-recognized, Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) – told the 2020 United Nations General Assembly on Thursday that unification and reconciliation remain distant goals for his war-torn country despite the “great sacrifices” made by the Libyan people.

Several Libyan officials told the Associated Press (AP) on Thursday that Turkey pressured Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) into accepting military assistance from Syrian extremist militias and repaying Turkey with lucrative offshore energy deals.

The Egyptian parliament on Monday authorized President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to deploy troops in Libya to halt the advance of Turkish-backed militia allied with the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).

Libya’s al-Watiya airbase was hit by airstrikes on Saturday night, drawing condemnation and a promise of retaliation from the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) headquartered in Tripoli.

A delegation of Turkish business leaders is scheduled to visit Libya within the next two weeks to evaluate Turkish business opportunities as the civil war that began with former U.S. President Barack Obama’s invasion of Libya winds down.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi said this week that his government desires peace and stability in neighboring Libya, but might be prepared to intervene with military force to protect Egypt’s western border and thwart the ambitions of Turkey and its militia allies.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov encouraged the U.S. to use its “influence” to support efforts toward a ceasefire in Libya on Wednesday, Russia’s state-run broadcaster RT reported.

The government of Turkey announced “Operation Claw-Eagle” on Monday, a bombing campaign against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.

Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó, who has no power in the country in practice, claimed on Monday that an aircraft belonging to Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar had arrived in Venezuela a day before.

The World Health Organization (WHO) classified Libya as a “high-risk” country for coronavirus infection on Sunday, while diplomats went even further and warned of a “fatal” outbreak if fighting continues between the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA) under Gen. Khalifa Haftar.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that two Turkish soldiers have been killed in Libya, where Turkish forces were deployed to support the Government of National Accord (GNA) against the forces of the Libyan National Army (LNA) under Gen. Khalifa Haftar.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wasted little time sending troops to Libya after his parliament approved military intervention on January 2.

Turkey’s parliament voted to approve the use of military force in Libya on Thursday.

President Donald Trump spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi by telephone on Thursday and agreed to oppose “foreign exploitation” of the situation in Libya, where terrorists, warlords, and rival governments have been fighting ever since the fall of dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. 

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to send troops to Libya next month at the request of Tripoli’s Government of National Accord (GNA), as they continue to fend off attacks from renegade warlord General Khalifa Haftar’s opposition forces.

“It is no exaggeration to say that the stability and civilian nature of Libya is a critical matter, not only for Libya’s stability but the region and the world,” Falez Mustafa Serraj, president of the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) of Libya, told the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.

Forces loyal to renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar on Monday launched airstrikes on the coastal city of Sirte currently held by the internationally recognized government, expanding the conflict beyond the capital of Tripoli.

Escalating violence in an oasis town in Libya has resulted in a significant number of civilian casualties this month, killing 90 and wounding more than 200 others, the United Nations reported this week.

The United Nations-brokered Government of National Accord (GNA) over the weekend accused forces loyal to rogue Gen. Khalifa Haftar of airstrikes against a field hospital in southern Tripoli on Saturday, killing five doctors and injuring eight other health workers.

Libya demanded urgent answers Thursday after Paris conceded French missiles were found at a base used by strongman Khalifa Haftar, whose forces are fighting to seize the capital Tripoli.

Paris on Wednesday admitted that U.S.-made missiles found on a base operated by forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Haftar belonged to the French military, but it denied breaching a United Nations arms embargo, claiming that the weapons were “unusable” and never intended to end up with the warlord’s troops, who have been accused of war crimes.