US military says Moscow is eying geostrategic stronghold in Libya beyond Haftar’s support

The US military has said it believes a Russian introduction of warplanes into Libya may not tip the balance in the country’s stalemated civil war but could further help Moscow eventually secure a geostrategic stronghold in North Africa, according to the US Brigadier General Gregory Hadfield, deputy director of US Africa Command’s Intelligence Directorate.

Russian military personnel have delivered 14 MiG 29 and Su-24 fighter jets to the Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar in Al-Jufra airbase, the US military says.

The US General told a small group of reporters the Russian aircrafts’ flight path originated in Russia and passed through Iran and Syria before reaching Libya.

Hadfield said the aircraft had not been used yet but could add new capability for Haftar’s terrorist militias, who have so far failed in their year-long effort to capture Tripoli, the seat of the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).