The Libyan National Army announces the arrest of seven terrorists affiliated with Al-Qaeda

Ahmed al-Mismari, spokesman for the Libyan National Army (LNA), officially announced the arrest of seven members of the Jihadist terrorist group al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and North Africa following an intervention in the Ubari region in southwest Libya. 

In an official note issued, Ahmed al-Mismari reported that various units of the special operations corps linked to Tariq bin Ziyad and the 116 Infantry Brigades launched an operation on the neighbourhoods of Al-Taraqin Al-Sharib in southwest Libya, with the hideouts of the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb as the main targets. 

The LNA spokesman noted that seven AQIM terrorists were arrested, including Hassan al-Washi, the al-Qaeda commander who returned from Mali last week, and Omar al-Washi. He also explained that the LNA forces seized large quantities of ammunition, weapons and very important documents from insurgent elements. 

Al-Mismari also stated that this operation is part of the security strategies designed to pursue and eliminate terrorist cells, enforce the law, maintain the prestige of the state throughout its geographical territory, ensure the integrity of its citizens and achieve and preserve national security.

The LNA, commanded by Marshal Jalifa Haftar, has always stated that its main challenge in Libya's civil war is to end up taking Tripoli, the seat of power of the rival Government of National Accord (GNA) of Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj, in order to put an end to the war, pacify the country, wipe out the militiamen linked to Jihadist terrorism who are housed there and be able to hold elections later. 

The Libyan civil war has been raging since 2014 between Fayez Sarraj's GNA and Khalifa Haftar's LNA, which is in turn associated with Tobruk's other eastern government. The war in the North African country has long since become a game board involving several foreign nations with vested interests in Libya's geopolitical importance in the Mediterranean and its oil resources. In this scenario, the GNA has been recognised by the United Nations (UN) since 2016 and receives military support from Turkey (including mercenaries from Syria linked to groups previously linked to Jihadist terrorist organisations such as al-Qaeda or Daesh) and financial support from Qatar. Meanwhile, the LNA is supported by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt (these three major rivals of the Qatari state, which they imposed an economic and political bloc on in 2017 after accusing it of supporting cross-border terrorism), Russia and France. 

Turkey's entry into the war changed the course of the war, which had been favoured by Haftar's army following the final offensive launched in April last year on the Tripolitan bastion, and the GNA regained positions to the extent of threatening to take over important cores such as Sirte and Jufra. 

At this point the last diplomatic contacts made in Morocco, Egypt and Switzerland arrived in order to reach a peace agreement. This seems to be progressing following the latest understandings reached between the opposing sides on political and institutional organisation once the armed dispute is over. Even the contacts materialised in Geneva (Switzerland) by the military representatives of both factions signified the materialisation of a permanent ceasefire aimed at facilitating the evolution of the talks between the parties.