- The attack on the military camp on Traghen’s outskirts was thwarted by mid-day
- Competing Libyan armed factions frequently accuse each other of deploying mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa
BENGHAZI: A Chadian armed group attacked a military camp of forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Haftar in southern Libya on Thursday, killing one and injuring 13 others, a local official said.
After the toppling of dictator Muammar Qaddafi in the NATO-backed uprising in 2011, fighters from neighboring Chad and Sudan joined the ensuing turmoil. Competing Libyan armed factions frequently accuse each other of deploying mercenaries from sub-Saharan Africa.
The attack took place near Traghen, 902 km south of Tripoli and about 400 km north of the border with Chad. A spokesman for the Traghen municipality said the man killed was a fighter loyal to the Haftar-allied, eastern government in Libya.
Since disputed elections and an escalation of fighting in 2014 there have been two governments in Libya, the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli and a rival government in the east.
The attack on the military camp on Traghen’s outskirts was thwarted by mid-day, the spokesman, Khalid Chataoui, said, noting that hospitals in the city are underequipped to treat the injured.
There was no comment from Haftar’s Libya National Army (LNA) on the attack.
The east-west division has split key institutions and produced a deadlock between the rump parliaments aligned with rival, shifting military factions.
On Tuesday, three suicide bombers attacked Libya’s Foreign Ministry building in Tripoli.
Apart from the attackers, three people were killed and at least 21 injured in the attack, according to the Health Ministry.
Foreign Minister Mohamed Taher Siala said security arrangements agreed between GNA and the UN after a month of clashes in the south of Tripoli are yet to be implemented.