Chadian militias join hands with Libya’s terrorists

Ahmed Adel

The crisis in Libya has its toll on the situation in the Sahel and Sahara region, in general.

In the last months, the Libyan National Army (LNA), which is commanded by Gen. Khalifa Haftar, has been waging a fierce war against terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

Together with these organizations, the LNA has also been fighting Chadian mercenaries operating in Libya, who stage attacks on LNA concentrations every now and then.

President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou, attributed conflicts in the African Sahel and Sahara region and in Libya to the presence of terrorist organizations in them.

He added at his country’s latest celebration of its independence day that terrorist organizations collaborate with Chadian militias.

“This poses great dangers to the region,” President Issoufou said.

The Sahel and Sahara region consists of Algeria, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, South Sudan, Chad, Sudan, the Central African Republic, Eritrea and Ethiopia.

Southern Libya is an important link between North Africa and the Sahel and Sahara region. The populations of the region mix with each other, which increases the influence of any developments in it.

Chadian opposition

Southern Libya has turned into a meeting point for terrorist organizations crossing borders southern the African desert or the Middle East. These organizations use the state of security chaos in Libya to gain presence in the country.

The Chadian militias operating in southern Libya have become a real problem to people living in the area. These militias have settled down in the area already.

These militias have turned the area into a springboard for attacks against the Chadian army and Sahel and Sahara peoples.

The same militias have hammered out an alliance with terrorist organizations active in the Sahel region, according to Sky News Arabia.

These organizations include al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, it said.

In 2016, former US deputy secretary of state Antony Blinken revealed that Boko Haram had sent fighters to join in the Islamic State group in Libya.

Libyan journalist Fatma Ghandour said her country was a victim of terrorist organizations in the Sahel and Sahara region.

She referred in an interview with The Reference to the presence of collaboration between Chadian and Sudanese militias and terrorist organizations active in the Sahel and Sahara region.

“These militias have formed alliances with a wide range of terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group,” Ghandour said.