Libya: Extremism & Counter-Extremism Overview
Libya: Extremism & Counter-Extremism On July 14, 2020, Libya’s eastern-based parliament approved a motion that would allow Egypt to militarily intervene in the Libyan war to counter Turkish support of the Government of National Accord (GNA). Accordingly, Egypt’s military has claimed to have carried out exercises involving navy, air force, and Special Forces near the Libyan border in anticipation of drastic changes in the region. On June 30, 2020, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, accused Turkey of importing large numbers of jihadists into Libya. In recent weeks, Turkey has significantly intervened in Libya, providing air support, weapons, and fighters to the internationally recognized GNA to repel the opposing Libyan National Army (LNA). Macron did not provide clear evidence regarding the nature of the deployed fighters but claimed that Turkey was “massively importing” fighters from Syria. Although the GNA seized back the capital from the LNA on June 3, 2020, Libya is still split between the two factions—the LNA maintains control of the east, and the LNA controls the western area of the country. (Sources: Al Jazeera [1], Arab News [2], Reuters [3], Al Jazeera [4], Guardian [5], Reuters [6]) Fighting between the rival factions has been ongoing since April 2019, and escalated in early 2020 after Haftar’s declaration of a “final” and decisive battle for Tripoli on December 12, 2019. A couple of weeks later, on January 2, 2020, Turkish lawmakers authorized the deployment of troops into Libya, however, Turkish and Russian forces called for a truce on January 12. As of June 2020, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, has claimed that the situation in Libya continues to deteriorate despite the attempted Russian-Turkish ceasefire.
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