Libyan Army

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
See also: Libyan Army (1951–2011) and Libyan National Army

The Libyan Army
الجيش الليبي
Libyan Army Flag
Active1951 (Cyrenaica Liberation Army)
2016 (current form)
Country Libya
Allegiance

Formerly

TypeArmy
RoleLand warfare
Size
  • 6000 (Greater Tripoli, Aug 2019)[1]: 7 
  • 2200–2400 (Sirte, Aug 2019)[1]: 8 
Part of
Commander-in Chief
Mohamed al-Menfi
Chief of General StaffMohammad Ali al-Haddad

The Libyan Army

Arabic: الجيش الليبي) 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
.

Since December 2015 the groups of the Libyan Army has been nominally subordinated to the internationally recognised

Islamic State.[4][5] Some efforts have been made to create a truly national army, but most of the forces under the Tripoli government's command consist of various militia groups, such as the Tripoli Protection Force, and local factions from cities like Misrata and Zintan.[6][7]

Organization

There are two main warfare organizations in Libya: GNA Libyan army and LNA. The other major military force in Libya is the Libyan National Army (LNA), which in 2014 evolved from what was originally called the LNA in 2011 following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. In 2014, the LNA came under the control of Marshal Khalifa Haftar and the House of Representatives, whose geographical location is in the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk.

In 2017, there was no truly unified army or air force under the Presidential Council's command, and only the Libyan Navy was fully operating under the GNA's control.[8] The Tripoli government aimed to integrate many different militia groups into a regular command structure,[4][9][10] and created a Presidential Guard. Prime Minister Sarraj hold the role of supreme commander of the army.[11] The Libyan Army is commanded by the GNA Defense Ministry, which was initially led by Colonel Al-Mahdi Al-Barghathi from 2016[12] until he was removed in July 2018, at which point GNA Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj took on the role of defense minister.[13][7] The Chief of the General Staff was Major General Abdel Rahman al-Taweel,[8] from September 2017 until his removal in February 2019, being replaced by Lieutenant General Mohammed al-Shareef.[14]

2017–2018

Since the establishment of the Government of National Accord in 2016

clashes continued to occur between different factions in Tripoli nominally loyal to the new UN-backed unity government, leaving hundreds dead. Khalifa al-Ghawil proclaimed the creation of a new government consisting of the former General National Congress.[15] Elements of the Presidential Guard defected to the rebels and took over key buildings in the capital.[16][17] Pro-GNA forces eventually were able to defeat the GNC coup attempt.[18][19] Around mid-2017, militias allied to the GNA fully secured the capital. In August 2018 fighting broke out between different groups in Tripoli that were all nominally subordinated to the GNA's defense ministry, forcing Prime Minister Sarraj to call in other militias from different towns outside the capital. A unit called the 7th Brigade had rebelled, leading to its dissolution.[7][20]

2019

On 6 April 2019, a joint operations room was formed in response to

attack on Tripoli to coordinate their military forces. It is led by Western military zone commander Osama al-Juwaili and includes the heads of the Tripoli and Central military zones, the Counter-Terrorism Force, and representatives from the Presidential Guard and Military Intelligence Bureau.[11]

In response to a common interest in defending Tripoli against the LNA, the armed militias that in mid 2019 composed the armed forces of the GNA coordinated with one another mainly by agreement among armed group commanders rather than by the official command structure. The militias remained mostly autonomous in decision-making while formally being integrated into the GNA chain of command. Lacher Wolfram, writing in a Security Assessment in North Africa publication, described this as "bottom-up integration" and a "remarkable development" that "could potentially serve as a starting point for the creation of properly integrated forces ... [with] loyalty to a unified command structure".[1]

Military zones

On 1 June 2017, the GNA announced the creation of seven military zones throughout Libya. They include Tripoli,

Jebel Nafusa) . The commanders of each zone were responsible for training and preparation of the forces in their area and answered to the Libyan army chief of staff. Not all of the territories accounted for were under the GNA's control at the time.[21][22][23]

The leaders of the military zones are as follows.

Known units

Allies

One of the GNA main allies is Turkey. Turkey had deployed weapons and equipment to GNA troops even before the Government of National Accord (GNA) requested Turkish military support in December 2019.[33] Turkey's engagement for the GNA is linked to its broader strategic interests in the Eastern Mediterranean: in November, Turkey and GNA leader Fayez al-Serraj signed a defense cooperation deal. At the same time GNA and Turkey agreed one on maritime boundaries in the Eastern Mediterranean, where Turkey is locked in a dispute with regional rivals Greece, Cyprus, Egypt and Israel over access to sea regions rich in natural gas.

Equipment

Weapons

Model image type Calibre Quantity Origin Notes
Pistol
TT-33[34]
 Semi-automatic pistol 7.62×26mm  Soviet Union
Makarov PM[35]
 Semi-automatic pistol 9x18mm Makarov  Soviet Union
Browning Hi-Power[36] Semi-automatic pistol 9mm parabellum  Belgium
Glock 17[citation needed
] 		Automatic Pistol 9mm parabellum  Austria
SAR 9[citation needed] Semi-automatic pistol 9×19mm Parabellum  Turkey
Caracal F
 Semi-automatic pistol
9x19mm Parabellum
  United Arab Emirates Purchased and issued to the Ministry of Interior of Libya staff.[37]
Submachine gun
Heckler & Koch MP5[36] Submachine gun 9mm parabellum  West Germany
FN P90[38] Submachine gun 5.7×28mm  Belgium
Shotgun
Benelli M4 Super 90[39][40]
 Semi-Auto Shotgun 12 gauge 1800  Italy An order were delivered prior of the start of the
Libyan revolution of 2011
, later used by Libyan special forces.
Winchester Model 1200[41]
Pump-Action Shotgun
 12 gauge  United States
Battle rifle and assault rifle
MPT
 Battle rifle 7.62×51mm NATO  Turkey MPT-55K assault rifles supplied by Turkey.[42]
G3[43]
 Battle rifle 7.62×51mm NATO  West Germany
 Turkey
M4A1[44] Carbine rifle 5.56×45mm NATO  United States
M16[44] Carbine rifle 5.56×45mm NATO  United States
Heckler & Koch G36[45][46][47][48][49] Assault rifle 5.56×45mm NATO 600  Germany G36 (variants KV and E) were legally sold from Egypt in 2003, pressumably used by the Khamis Brigade/Special Forces (although this remains unclear), anti-Gaddafi forces, most notably the Tripoli Brigade, would later capture an unknown number of stockpiled G36 from the Bab al-Azizia armory.
AK-47[50] Assault rifle 7.62×39mm  Soviet Union
AKM[51] Assault rifle 7.62×39mm  Soviet Union
AK-103[52] Assault rifle 7.62×39mm  Russia Formerly used by Gaddafi Loyalists and later captured by anti-Gaddafi forces.
PM md. 63[53]
 Assault rifle 7.62×39mm  Romania
Zastava M70[36]
 Assault rifle 7.62×39mm  Yugoslavia
Norinco CQ[54] Assault rifle 5.56×45mm NATO  China Chinese unlicensed copy of
M16 Rifle, used by the National Liberation Army
.
Type 65[55] Assault rifle 5.56×45mm NATO  Taiwan Taiwanese copy of the M16 Rifle.
Beretta AR70/90[citation needed] Assault rifle 5.56×45mm NATO  Italy
FN F2000[56][57] Bullpup assault rifle 5.56×45mm NATO 367  Belgium Purchased from
Libyan Civil War of 2011
, Libyan rebels captured an unknown number of F2000 from Gaddafi loyalists.
FN FAL[36] Battle rifle 7.62×51mm NATO  Belgium
Sniper rifle
M82[citation needed] Sniper rifle
50 BMG
  United States
SVD Dragunov[51]
 Sniper rifle 7.62×54mmR  Soviet Union
PSL[58] Sniper rifle 7.62×54mmR  Romania Formerly used by anti-Gaddafi forces.
Machine gun
PK machine gun[36] General-purpose machine gun 7.62×54mmR  Soviet Union
RPK[34] Light machine gun 7.62×39mm  Soviet Union
RPD[34] Light machine gun 7.62×39mm  Soviet Union
FN Minimi[59][36] Light machine gun 5.56×45mm  Belgium
FN MAG[36] General-purpose machine gun 7.62×51mm  Belgium
M2 Browning[44] Heavy machine gun 12.7 mm  United States
DShK[43] Heavy machine gun 12.7 mm  Soviet Union
Grenade-based weapon
GM-94 Pump-action grenade launcher 43×30mm  Russia Used by anti-Gaddafi forces.[60]
Daewoo K4[61]
 Automatic grenade launcher 40mm  South Korea First export customer
Anti-tank weapons
RPG-7[34]
Rocket-propelled grenade launcher
 40mm  Soviet Union Used by both sides durning the
Libyan Civil War
.
M40 recoilless rifle[62]
Recoilless gun
 105mm  United States US, Chinese and Iran made variants used.
SPG-9[62] Recoilless gun 73mm smoothbore  Soviet Union
9M14 Malyutka[63] Anti-tank guided missile 125mm  Soviet Union
9K115 Metis Anti-tank guided missile 94mm  Soviet Union Supplied by Turkey to the GNA.[64]
MILAN Anti-tank guided missile 115mm  France
 West Germany 		Supplied by Qatar during the
2011 Libyan Civil War.[65]

Artillery

Name Image Type Origin Quantity Notes
Rocket artillery
Type 63 multiple rocket launcher 107mm MLRS  People's Republic of China 1+ Some were captured from the LNA.[66]
BM-21 Grad 122mm MLRS  Soviet Union 4+ Some were captured from the LNA.[66]
T-122 Sakarya[67] 122mm MLRS  Turkey 20+ Supplied by Turkey
Self-propelled howitzer
2S1 Gvozdika 122mm  Soviet Union 1+ Formerly used by Gaddafi forces. Some were captured from the LNA.[66]
Palmaria[68] 155mm  Italy 9+ Some were captured from the LNA.[66]
T-155 Fırtına 155mm  Turkey Unknown amount supplied by Turkey.[42]
Towed howitzer
M114
 155mm  United States Donated to the Libyan Army by Turkey.[69]
D-30[68] 122mm  Soviet Union 2+ Some were captured from the LNA.[66]
M-46 130mm  Soviet Union 6 Captured from the LNA.[66]
Mortar
M1938 120mm  Soviet Union Unknown Used by
2011 Libyan Civil War.[70]
Anti-aircraft
systems
ZPU 14.5mm Anti-aircraft gun  Soviet Union Used by both sides durning the
2011 Libyan Civil War.[71] Mounted on technicals.[68]
ZU-23-2 23mm Anti-aircraft gun  Soviet Union Mounted on technicals.[68]
ZSU-23-4
 23mm Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun  Soviet Union Used by both sides durning the
2011 Libyan Civil War.[72]
KORKUT 35mm Self-propelled anti-aircraft gun  Turkey Supplied by Turkey.[42]
QW-13 Man-portable air-defense system  China [68]
MIM-23 Hawk Surface-to-air missile system  United States Supplied by Turkey.[42]

Vehicles

Model Image Origin Variant Number Details
Main battle tanks
T-54/T-55[68]  Soviet Union
 Egypt 		T-55A
T-55E 		59+ Some were captured from the LNA.[66]
T-62  Soviet Union
 Russia 		T-62M
T-62MV 		20 Captured from LNA forces.[66]
T-72[68]  Soviet Union T-72
T-72M1 		3+ Some were captured from LNA forces.[66]
M60 Patton
  United States
 Turkey 		M60A1 3 Supplied by Turkey.[42][73]
Infantry fighting vehicles
BMP-1  Soviet Union Some were captured from the LNA.[66]
BMP-2[68]  Soviet Union
Ratel IFV  South Africa Ratel 20
Ratel 60 		2 Captured from the LNA.[66]
Armored cars
EE-9 Cascavel  Brazil 2+ Some were captured from the LNA.[66]
Armoured personnel carriers
FNSS ACV-15[68]  Turkey ACV-AAPC Supplied by Turkey.[69]
Steyr 4K-7FA[68]  Austria
Mbombe 6[68]  South Africa
KADDB Al-Wahsh[68]  Jordan 5+ Captured from the LNA.[66]
BMC Kirpi[68]  Turkey Kirpi II Supplied by Turkey.[69]
BMC Vuran[68]  Turkey Supplied by Turkey.[69]
Lenco BearCat[68]  United States G3
Nimr[68]  United Arab Emirates Ajban 1+ Captured from the LNA.[66]
STREIT Group Cougar  Canada 4 Captured from the LNA.[66]
STREIT Group Spartan  Canada 3 Captured from the LNA.[66]
Panthera T6  United Arab Emirates 3 Captured from the LNA.[66]
Panthera F9  United Arab Emirates 1 Captured from the LNA.[66]
HMMWV
  United States 3+ Part of a batch of 200 vehicles sent by the US to Libya in 2012. Some were captured from the LNA.[66]
Military engineering vehicles
Centurion AVRE[68]
  United Kingdom AVRE 105
Tank destroyers
9P157-2 Khrizantema-S[68]  Russia
Trucks
Toyota Land Cruiser  Japan HZJ 79 Used as technicals.[74]
Iveco Trakker  Italy Trakker 380 1 Captured from the LNA.[66]
KAMAZ
  Russia ? 2 Captured from the LNA.[66]

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Further reading

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