| Years in Libya: | 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 |
| Centuries: | 20th century · 21st century · 22nd century |
| Decades: | 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s 2050s |
| Years: | 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 |
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| See also: | Other events of 2020 List of years in Libya | ||||
Events in Libya in 2020
In January 2020, Turkey sent troops and electronic warfare tools to Libya to defend the existing government there. [3] [4] Several countries protested against Turkey's actions including Greece, France, Egypt, and the United States. [35] [7] [8]
In July, the United States said it had verifiable photographs showing Russia has sent weapons, air defense systems, and mercenaries to Libya. Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and France support Khalifa Hifter's forces. Turkey has sent arms and Syrian mercenaries to back the government of Tripoli. [36]
Khalifa Hifter threatened to use force against Turkish troops after the Turkish parliament extended authorization that allows the deployment of Turkish troops to Libya for another 18 months starting December 2020. [37]
The Libyan Air Force is the branch of the Libyan Armed Forces responsible for aerial warfare. In 2010, before the Libyan Civil War, the Libyan Air Force personnel strength was estimated at 18,000, with an inventory of 374 combat-capable aircraft operating from 13 military airbases in Libya. Since the 2011 civil war and the ongoing conflict, multiple factions fighting in Libya have been in possession of military aircraft. As of 2019, the Libyan Air Force is nominally under the control of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord in Tripoli, though the rival Libyan National Army of Marshal Khalifa Haftar also has a significant air force. In 2021, the air force was under command of the new President of Libya, Mohamed al-Menfi that replaced Fayez al-Sarraj.
The Libyan Army is the brand for a number of separate military forces in Libya, which were under the command of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Government of National Unity (GNU).
The Libyan National Army or the Libyan Arab Army is a component of Libya's military forces which were nominally a unified national force under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar when he was nominated to the role on 2 March 2015 by the House of Representatives, consisting at the time of a ground force, an air force and a navy.
The Libyan civil war (2014–2020), also known as the Second Libyan Civil War, was a multilateral civil war which was fought in Libya among a number of armed groups, but mainly the House of Representatives (HoR) and the Government of National Accord (GNA), for six years from 2014 to 2020.
The Libyan crisis is the current humanitarian crisis and political-military instability occurring in Libya, beginning with the Arab Spring protests of 2011, which led to two civil wars, foreign military intervention, and the ousting and death of Muammar Gaddafi. The first civil war's aftermath and proliferation of armed groups led to violence and instability across the country, which erupted into renewed civil war in 2014. The second war lasted until October 23, 2020, when all parties agreed to a permanent ceasefire and negotiations.
The Government of National Accord was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. The agreement was unanimously endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, which welcomed the formation of a Presidency Council for Libya and recognized the Government of National Accord as the sole legitimate executive authority in Libya. On 31 December 2015, Chairman of the Libyan House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh Issa declared his support for the Libyan Political Agreement. The General National Congress has criticized the GNA on multiple fronts as biased in favor of its rival parliament the House of Representatives.
This is a detailed timeline of the Libyan civil war (2014–2020) which lasted from 2014 to 2020.
In late January 2019, the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to take control of the city of Sabha and the rest of southern Libya from the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and local factions. Officially, the LNA announced that the reason for the operation was to remove terrorists, Chadian rebel groups, and to secure the border, but it has expanded Haftar's territorial control and acquired him oil fields near Sabha. It has also restarted some interethnic conflicts as the LNA has allied with local Arab tribes, while the Tuareg and Toubou tribal militias are loyal to the GNA.
The Western Libya campaign was a military campaign initiated on 4 April 2019 by the Operation Flood of Dignity of the Libyan National Army, which represents the Libyan House of Representatives, to capture the western region of Libya and eventually the capital Tripoli held by the United Nations Security Council-recognised Government of National Accord. The Government of National Accord regained control over all of Tripoli in June 2020 and the LNA forces withdrew from the capital, after fourteen months of fighting.
Libyan-Turkish relations are the foreign relations between Libya and Turkey. While this relationship cannot currently be attributed to one government in Libya, generally speaking it is a contested relationship between Turkey and the pro-Turkish Government of National Accord. Libya has a functional embassy in Ankara and Turkey has its counterpart in Tripoli. Turkey currently occupies bases in Libya with Al-Watiya Air Base being a major airbase in the west, and Port of Misrata being most notable naval base acquired but contested during the 2020 Turkish military intervention in the Second Libyan Civil War.
The Libyan peace process was a series of meetings, agreements and actions that aimed to resolve the Second Libyan Civil War. Among these were the Skhirat agreement of December 2015 and the plans for the Libyan National Conference in April 2019 that were delayed because of the 2019–20 Western Libya campaign.
In January 2020, Turkey militarily intervened in support of the United Nations-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) of Libya in the 2014–2020 Libyan civil war. Military intervention was approved by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on 2 January 2020, which passed a one-year mandate to deploy troops to Libya. Turkish military deployments to Libya began on 5 January.
This is the order of battle for the Western Libya campaign, codenamed "Operation Flood of Dignity" by forces under Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. The forces supporting Haftar and the House of Representatives, mainly the Libyan National Army, are opposed by the armed forces of the forces loyal to the Government of National Accord, including the Libyan Army and the Tripoli Protection Force.
The 2020 Cairo Declaration, announced on June 6, 2020, was a proposed Second Libyan Civil War ceasefire drawn up in Cairo between Egypt's Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and leaders associated with the Libyan National Army, including Khalifa Haftar and Aguila Saleh. The Libyan national army's principal opposition in the civil war was the UN-recognized Government of National Accord. The declaration proposed to cease all hostilities from June 8, 2020, withdraw all foreign troops and mercenaries, and to disarm the population and hand all weapons over to the Libyan National Army, and to then hold national elections.
The Central Libya offensive, officially known as Operation Paths to Victory, was a military offensive in Libya launched by the forces of the Government of National Accord, to take the city of Sirte and Al Jufra Airbase from the House of Representatives backed by the Libyan National Army. The city of Sirte is considered strategically important because of its close position to oil facilities, which give it control over Libya's oil and gas shipping ports. The Al Jufra Airbase is strategically important for the GNA, due to its central position to Fezzan and denying the Libyan National Army air superiority over Central Libya.
The Egyptian intervention in Libya has been substantial since the beginning of the Libyan civil war. The intervention started after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) released a video of the beheading of 21 Egyptians on 12 February, 2015. In response, Egypt launched airstrikes on 16 February, that same year. After that incident, Egypt became increasingly involved with Libya's internal politics.
The Wagner Group, also known as PMC Wagner, a Russian paramilitary organization also described as a private military company (PMC), a network of mercenaries, and a de facto unit of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) or Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU, has conducted operations in Libya since late 2018.
Operation Volcano of Anger, alternatively known as Operation Volcano of Rage, was a military resistance campaign launched by the Government of National Accord in Libya to counter the advances of the Libyan National Army led by General Khalifa Haftar. The conflict, which began in April 2019, had witnessed intense fighting around the capital city, Tripoli, and other strategic locations in the country.
The Battle of Al-Watiya Airbase in 2020 marked a crucial turning point in the Second Libyan Civil War, as Government of National Accord (GNA) forces sought to reclaim control from the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by General Khalifa Haftar.
Libya's internationally recognized government on Tuesday suspended talks hosted by the United Nations to halt warfare over the capital after eastern forces shelled Tripoli's port, killing three people and almost hitting a highly explosive gas tanker.
