By Tim Korso /Sputnik News/ – The country is currently engulfed in an ongoing civil war, with clashes mainly taking place between two major factions – the UN-approved Government of National Accord in Tripoli and the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA) of General Khalifa Haftar, supported by the Libyan House of Representatives.
US military transport planes regularly conduct flights from the Ramstein Air Base in Germany to two Libyan cities, Tripoli and Misrata, an anonymous diplomatic source told Sputnik. Both cities are currently under the control of the Government of National Accord (GNA), a Libyan government approved by the UN and in charge of the country’s north-west.
The source said that there is a possibility these planes are carrying military cargoes to the North African country and added that Washington is thinking about solidifying a permanent military presence there.
The diplomatic source also noted that the US accuses Russia of supporting the GNA’s rival, the Libyan National Army (LNA) of General Khalifa Haftar only to divert attention away from its own “ugly” role in this conflict. The source said that the US is pursuing its own interests, pushing the GNA and LNA to continue the conflict there.
“The US was at the spearhead of NATO’s intervention in Libya’s Jamahiriya in 2011 which brought the country to its current state. Later, the US distanced itself from collective efforts to reach a political solution to Libya’s problems and adopted a wait and see attitude”, the source said.
Divided Libya
Ever since the NATO intrusion, Libya has been torn apart by warring groups each claiming their right to rule parts of or the entire country after its last leader Muammar Gaddafi was murdered by rebels supported by western countries.
The GNA is currently controlling the country’s capital Tripoli, but is confined to the north-western chunk of the country. The majority of eastern and central Libya is controlled by forces of Haftar’s LNA loyal to the Libyan House of Representatives, which doesn’t recognise the GNA’s authority. The country’s south and south-west are controlled by an array of smaller groups like Tuareg militants and the Tubu tribal militia.
