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 Armed Forces or the Libyan Arab Armed Forces are,in principle,the state organisation responsible for the military defence of Libya,including ground,air and naval forces.
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 Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries was a military coalition in Benghazi,Libya,composed of Islamist and jihadist militias,including Ansar al-Sharia,Libya Shield 1,and several other groups.
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.
The Battle of Benghazi (2014–2017) was a major battle of the Second Libyan Civil War that raged from October 2014 to December 2017,between the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries,Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Libya,and the Libyan National Army (LNA),and paramilitaries supporting the Libyan National Army in the city. The battle was a direct consequence of the failed Benina Airport Offensive by the Benghazi Revolutionaries and their Allies,which allowed LNA Forces to regroup and attack deep into Benghazi.
The Gulf of Sidra Offensive was an offensive of the Second Libyan Civil War. It was launched by the Benghazi Defense Brigades on 3 March 2017,and initially resulted in them taking control of a strip of coastal territory between the towns of Nofaliya and Ras Lanuf,which was then handed over to the Government of National Accord. A number of significant oil ports are located in this area,sometimes referred to as the Oil Crescent. The loss of the Oil Crescent was perceived by analysts as a major blow to the power of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
On 18 May 2017,an attack was launched by militia men of the town of Misrata and Benghazi Defense Brigades against the Brak al-Shati Airbase controlled by LNA forces. LNA sources claimed 141 people,including 103 soldiers and numerous civilians were killed as a result of the raid. The base was completely overrun and partially destroyed along with numerous aircraft in the base. Accusations of executions of surrendering forces led to international condemnation of GNA forces.
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.
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 Battle of Sirte took place on January 6,2020 during the Second Libyan Civil War. The Libyan National Army of Marshal Khalifa Haftar took the city from the forces of the Fayez el-Sarraj Government.
The 2020 Libyan protests consisted of street protests over issues of poor provision of services in several cities in Libya,including cities controlled by the Government of National Accord (GNA) in the west and by the Libyan National Army (LNA) in the east (Benghazi) and south (Sabha) of Libya.
Tariq Ben Zeyad Brigade is a militant organization led by Saddam Haftar,son of Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar. It has been accused of crushing any opposition to his father's LNA since its emergence in 2016. In December 2022,Saddam's Tariq Ben Zeyad Brigade was accused by the Amnesty International of committing war crimes.
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.
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 
Libya (House of Representatives)
Libyan Ground Forces