The so-called “Wagner Private Military Company” may assist the Libyan National Army commander, Khalif Haftar, in the training of his military units. They will be involved in an offensive in the province of Fezzan in southern Libya, the TV channel “Dozhd” website reports, citing “Africa Intelligence” and unnamed sources.
The military training with the participation of the Wagner Group mercenaries can be held at the airbase in the city of Sabha. Haftar’s forces plan to gain control over the oil fields in Fezzan.
In early December, the Libyan National Petroleum Corporation (NOC) announced that the Ash-Sharar oil field in Fezzan had been seized by armed groups calling themselves the “Wrath of Fezzan”. Since then, its operation has been blocked. Sharara is managed by the Libyan NOC and European companies, including the Spanish Repsol, the Austrian OMV and the French Total.
As “Africa Intelligence” notes, Haftar “does not hide his desire” to take control of the oil fields in order to become the “irreplaceable assistant” of the NOC and its foreign partners.
In October, RBC and The Sun wrote that Russia had transferred several dozens of GRU special forces troops and staff to Eastern Libya, who are training personnel for the Haftar army, to whom Moscow also supplies heavy weapons. The British newspaper also wrote that there are already two Russian military bases in Libya — in Tobruk and Benghazi, with fighters of the “Wagner Group”.
- “PMC Wagner” informally reports to the General Staff of the Russian Federation. The security services of Ukraine claim that the Wagnerites were involved in the destruction of the Ukrainian Il-76 aircraft in Donbas, participated in the storming of the Luhansk airport and the battles for Debaltseve. In Syria, Wagner’s men were seen during the storming of Palmyra in March 2016 and a number of other operations. According to the SBU, at different times at least 12 Belarusian citizens fought in the “PMC Wagner”. According to the latest data, two of them are now on a mission in Sudan.
