The Guardian has reported that the United Arab Emirates, which is backing Khalifa Haftar, is thought to have sent more than 100 deliveries by air since mid-January 2020, according to flight-tracking data.
According to the British newspaper, most of the suspect UAE flights leave military bases in the UAE, while some appear to depart from a base run since 2016 by the UAE in Eritrea, where an authoritarian regime is in charge and there is minimal international monitoring.
“The flights are thought to have carried about 5,000 metric tons of cargo into Libya in very large chartered transport planes that land at an airport close to Benghazi, Haftar’s coastal stronghold, or in western Egypt, from where their loads are thought to be trucked into Libya.” The report revealed.
It said it remained unclear what those shipments contained but they may have included heavier artillery as well as other arms and ammunition.
The Guardian said experts believed the cargos may have also contained communications technology, spare parts, basic equipment and other non-lethal items necessary for fighting a war.
In addition to the support from the UAE and Egypt, Haftar has been backed by Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Russia. Many of the flights stop at Aqaba, the Jordanian port city, the report added.
Nigeria seeks cooperation with Libya to address the arms proliferation crisis
Nigerian Defense Minister Mohamed Badaru called on Libya to cooperate with his country’s government to address the crisis of the proliferation of small arms and
