With a succession of quick victories, Turkish-supported forces in Libya have rolled back the gains of a would-be strongman whose allies, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, now face tough choices.
A billboard depicting Khalifa Hifter, the commander of the Libyan National Army, in downtown Benghazi in January.
CAIRO — A string of victories by Turkish-backed forces in western Libya this week dealt a heavy blow to the ambitions of the aspiring strongman Khalifa Hifter and signaled the arrival of Turkey as a potentially decisive force among the foreign powers battling for supremacy in the Middle East’s biggest proxy war.
Libyan fighters backed by Turkish firepower captured on Monday a major air base west of Tripoli, the capital, used drones to destroy newly arrived Russian air defense batteries, and on Thursday pressed their offensive by ousting Mr. Hifter’s forces from a key town south of Tripoli.
The triumphs marked a stunning reversal of fortunes for the United Nations-backed Tripoli government, which looked weak and badly besieged by Mr. Hifter until President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey sent troops and armed drones in January. It was Turkey’s most forceful intervention in the oil-rich North African nation since the end of the Ottoman Empire over a century ago.
“It’s Turkey’s Libya Now,” read the headline on a briefing posted by the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Over a year ago, Mr. Hifter began an offensive to capture Tripoli and appeared to have the upper hand in the conflict, positioning his foreign sponsors, including Russia, to play a major role in Libya’s future.
But on Wednesday, triumphant soldiers loyal to the government in Tripoli paraded through central Libya with a captured air defense system, built by Russia and financed by the United Arab Emirates, in a pointed humiliation of Mr. Hifter’s two most powerful foreign backers.
Forces loyal to Libya’s United Nations-recognized government parading an air defense system truck in Tripoli after its capture at al-Watiya airbase from forces loyal to Mr. Hifter.
Then, on Thursday, Mr. Hifter’s forces were driven out of Asaba, a small but strategic town they had held 60 miles outside the capital.
The United Nations envoy to Libya, Stephanie Williams, warned the Security Council this week that the escalating fighting, driven by a flood of foreign-supplied weapons, warplanes and mercenaries, risked “turning the Libyan conflict into a pure proxy war.”
Although Turkey’s dramatic gains this week appeared to change the course of the war, they were by no means conclusive. The fortunes of the players in Libya’s conflict have seesawed wildly since the fall of the former dictator Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011.
On Thursday Mr. Hifter, 76, a self-styled field marshal and onetime C.I.A. asset who has been compared by critics to Colonel el-Qaddafi, vowed to strike back with what his air force chief called “the largest aerial campaign in Libyan history” against Turkish targets in Tripoli.
“All Turkish positions and interests in all cities are legitimate targets for our air force jets,” the air force chief, Saqr al-Jaroushi, said in a video.
In reality, Mr. Hifter’s next move will be determined by his sponsors in Moscow, Cairo and Abu Dhabi, where the leaders who have backed his 14-month-old assault on Tripoli, which has killed hundreds of civilians and displaced 400,000 people, were scrambling to assess their support for a stubborn ally who has repeatedly spurned political talks.
Fathi Bashagha, the Tripoli government’s interior minister, told Bloomberg on Thursday that eight Soviet-era jets, escorted by two newer Russian fighter jets, had flown from a base in Syria to boost Mr. Hifter. A European official said he had received similar reports, but said it was unclear if the jets were Russian or Syrian.
Fighters allied with Libya’s United Nations-supported government at an airbase seized on Monday from Mr. Hifter’s forces.
Any overt Russian military action would be a significant escalation for Moscow, which until now has exerted influence in Libya through mercenaries from the Wagner Group, the private army with close links to the Kremlin that played a key role in Mr. Hifter’s advance on Tripoli last fall.
The European official said that the jets were most likely a signal from the Kremlin to Turkey to slow down its offensive and turn to a negotiated solution.
www.nytimes.com
A billboard depicting Khalifa Hifter, the commander of the Libyan National Army, in downtown Benghazi in January.
CAIRO — A string of victories by Turkish-backed forces in western Libya this week dealt a heavy blow to the ambitions of the aspiring strongman Khalifa Hifter and signaled the arrival of Turkey as a potentially decisive force among the foreign powers battling for supremacy in the Middle East’s biggest proxy war.
Libyan fighters backed by Turkish firepower captured on Monday a major air base west of Tripoli, the capital, used drones to destroy newly arrived Russian air defense batteries, and on Thursday pressed their offensive by ousting Mr. Hifter’s forces from a key town south of Tripoli.
The triumphs marked a stunning reversal of fortunes for the United Nations-backed Tripoli government, which looked weak and badly besieged by Mr. Hifter until President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey sent troops and armed drones in January. It was Turkey’s most forceful intervention in the oil-rich North African nation since the end of the Ottoman Empire over a century ago.
“It’s Turkey’s Libya Now,” read the headline on a briefing posted by the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Over a year ago, Mr. Hifter began an offensive to capture Tripoli and appeared to have the upper hand in the conflict, positioning his foreign sponsors, including Russia, to play a major role in Libya’s future.
But on Wednesday, triumphant soldiers loyal to the government in Tripoli paraded through central Libya with a captured air defense system, built by Russia and financed by the United Arab Emirates, in a pointed humiliation of Mr. Hifter’s two most powerful foreign backers.
Forces loyal to Libya’s United Nations-recognized government parading an air defense system truck in Tripoli after its capture at al-Watiya airbase from forces loyal to Mr. Hifter.
Then, on Thursday, Mr. Hifter’s forces were driven out of Asaba, a small but strategic town they had held 60 miles outside the capital.
The United Nations envoy to Libya, Stephanie Williams, warned the Security Council this week that the escalating fighting, driven by a flood of foreign-supplied weapons, warplanes and mercenaries, risked “turning the Libyan conflict into a pure proxy war.”
Although Turkey’s dramatic gains this week appeared to change the course of the war, they were by no means conclusive. The fortunes of the players in Libya’s conflict have seesawed wildly since the fall of the former dictator Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011.
On Thursday Mr. Hifter, 76, a self-styled field marshal and onetime C.I.A. asset who has been compared by critics to Colonel el-Qaddafi, vowed to strike back with what his air force chief called “the largest aerial campaign in Libyan history” against Turkish targets in Tripoli.
“All Turkish positions and interests in all cities are legitimate targets for our air force jets,” the air force chief, Saqr al-Jaroushi, said in a video.
In reality, Mr. Hifter’s next move will be determined by his sponsors in Moscow, Cairo and Abu Dhabi, where the leaders who have backed his 14-month-old assault on Tripoli, which has killed hundreds of civilians and displaced 400,000 people, were scrambling to assess their support for a stubborn ally who has repeatedly spurned political talks.
Fathi Bashagha, the Tripoli government’s interior minister, told Bloomberg on Thursday that eight Soviet-era jets, escorted by two newer Russian fighter jets, had flown from a base in Syria to boost Mr. Hifter. A European official said he had received similar reports, but said it was unclear if the jets were Russian or Syrian.
Fighters allied with Libya’s United Nations-supported government at an airbase seized on Monday from Mr. Hifter’s forces.
Any overt Russian military action would be a significant escalation for Moscow, which until now has exerted influence in Libya through mercenaries from the Wagner Group, the private army with close links to the Kremlin that played a key role in Mr. Hifter’s advance on Tripoli last fall.
The European official said that the jets were most likely a signal from the Kremlin to Turkey to slow down its offensive and turn to a negotiated solution.
In Stunning Reversal, Turkey Emerges as Libya Kingmaker (Published 2020)
With a succession of quick victories, Turkish-supported forces in Libya have rolled back the gains of a would-be strongman whose allies, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, now face tough choices.
