Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Omar Haftar is a Libyan politician, military officer, and the commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA). In 2015, he was appointed commander of the armed forces loyal to the elected legislative body, the Libyan House of Representatives.
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 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.
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 LNA 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 Front for Change and Concord in Chad, or FACT, is a political and military organisation created by SG Mahamat Mahdi Ali in March 2016 in Tanua, in the north of Chad, with the goal of overthrowing the government of Chad. It is a splinter group of the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD). Ali declared his preparation for military operations against President Idriss Déby. The group was responsible for the death of Déby in April 2021, when he was killed while commanding troops on the frontline fighting the militants.
Clashes occurred in western Libya since 14 October 2016, when a coup d'état attempt was conducted by the former head of the National Salvation Government (GNS), Khalifa al-Ghawil, against Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA). This evolved into fighting between the GNA and GNS for control of Tripoli and parts of western Libya, while pro-GNA militias also attacked other militias for control of the region.
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.
The Battle of Derna was a military campaign by the Libyan National Army to recapture the city of Derna from the Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna, which lasted from 7 May 2018 until 12 February 2019. The majority of military operations concluded by 28 June 2018, with the Libyan National Army declaring control of the entire city on that day, despite continued clashes in the old city. During the early stages of the battle, the Shura Council was dissolved and replaced with the Derna Protection Force, which continued operations after the LNA declared victory in June 2018, before surrendering at the end of the battle.
The Petroleum Facilities Guard is a Libyan oil company and militia led by Idris Bukhamada. Established in October 2012, it took control of the main oil export terminals in eastern Libya in the summer of 2013 and starting in March 2014 attempted to sell oil. In 2014, Ibrahim Jadhran ousted Idris Bukhamada, and became the new leader of the PFG. Despite initially allying himself with Khalifa Haftar, this alliance would later sour and lead to Jadhran accusing the LNA of trying to assassinate him in September 2015.
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 secure the border, but it expanded Haftar's territorial control and acquired him oil fields near Sabha. It also restarted some interethnic conflicts as the LNA had allied with local Arab tribes, while the Tuareg and Toubou tribal militias were loyal to the GNA.
The Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic is a Chadian militant rebel group that seeks to overthrow the government of Chad. Founded in 2016, it currently operates in the border regions of northern Chad, southern Libya, eastern Niger, and western Sudan. The CCMSR has become involved in the Second Libyan Civil War, and took control of the Kouri Bougoudi area in northern Chad in 2018.
The Western Libya campaign was a military campaign initiated on 4 April 2019 by the Operation Flood of Dignity of the Libyan National Army (LNA), 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 (GNA). The GNA regained control over all of Tripoli in June 2020 and the LNA forces withdrew from the capital, after fourteen months of fighting.
In 2016, the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) and the Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR) began a rebellion against the Chadian government. From their rear bases in southern Libya, FACT and CCMSR have launched offensives and raids into Northern Chad seeking to overthrow the government of former president Idriss Déby, who had been in power since a December 1990 coup. Other rebel groups are also involved in the insurgency, though to a lesser extent.
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.
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.
Libyan National Army