French special forces assisting anti-ISIS efforts in Libya, sources confirm

Special French Commando forces have recently arrived in Benghazi, Libya, to support Brigadier General Khalifa Haftar and to provide support for military operations in the city, Libyan security sources have confirmed.

Two Libyan military officials confirmed French special forces are in Benina Air Base in the eastern city of Benghazi helping Libyan troops battle Islamic State militants, according to a exclusive statement to the Huffington Post Arabi. Benghazi, the most important military base for troops loyal to General Haftar. Neither the number nor the size of the forces is known.

The officials told The Associated Press that a French combat squad, consisting of 15 special forces, had carried out four military operations across Benghazi against ISIS militants and other militias.

They said that the French forces, along with American and British teams, are setting up an operations room in Benghazi. France is expected to join an international coalition against ISIS in Libya.

The same sources have said that a common operations room has been set up in order to coordinate between the France’s and Haftar’s forces under the command of Colonel Salim Al-Abdali.

Events escalated in Libya recently as a result of the refusal by the political parties to reach an agreement on the formation of a national unity government. Upon his return from the United Arab Emirates, Haftar announced the enhancement of military operations. He went on to announce, on Sunday, his seizure of Ajdabia, in the east of the country, according to statements attributed to the spokesperson in the name of Ajdabia Operations Room Akram Buhliqah, in addition to seizing control of the Al-Muraisah Port.

Haftar’s troops waged a military operation in Benghazi, 1,000 kilometres to the east of Libya, last Saturday in which 19 were killed over two days.

The French newspaper Le Monde, citing its own sources, reported on February 24,2016 that French President Francois Hollande had authorised “unofficial military action” by both an elite armed forces unit and the covert action service of the DGSE intelligence agency in the conflict-ridden North African state, which has two rival governments and largely ungoverned desert spaces.

Le Monde calls this operation France’s secret war on Libya and describes as a ground operation with the application of targeted strikes on the leaders of the terrorist group ISIS. The special operation, as stated in this article are the destruction of the infrastructure of the IG in Libya, the country that represents, according to UN estimates, one of the key strongholds of terrorism.

French defense ministry declined comment on the substance of Le Monde’s story but a source close to Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he had ordered an investigation into “breaches of national defense secrecy” to identify the sources of the report.

French President Hollande said that France was at war with Islamic State after it claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks on bars, restaurants, a concert hall and the national soccer stadium in Paris on Nov. 13 last year, killing 130 people.

French ministry has previously confirmed that France has set up an advance military base in northern Niger on the border with Libya.

France’s security officials have warned of an increasingly deteriorating security situation in Libya, in part due to ISIS expanding its influence in the country. The Pentagon estimated earlier this year that the number of ISIS fighters in the country had swelled to 5,000, and reportedly included several top lieutenants from Syria.