According to a report from the Africa Intelligence website, elements from the American military contractor Amentum have arrived in Libya under an agreement with outgoing Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibeh to provide training to several armed groups in the capital city of Tripoli.
The report states that Amentum personnel will be training members of three specific armed brigades – the 444th Brigade led by Mahmoud Hamza, the 111th Brigade led by Zubi, and the 166th Brigade led by Al-Hisan.
The training efforts are being coordinated between Amentum and the United States State Department, with the goal of unifying these various armed factions and tasking them with securing borders and disarmament operations. This work is not being conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM).
The support from the United States for these Libyan armed groups could provide a political lifeline for the embattled Prime Minister Dbeibeh, who is facing calls from many Libyan politicians to step down and make way for a new government. Dbeibeh has clung to power despite failing to hold elections as originally scheduled in December 2021.
This renewed American involvement in Libya’s security sector comes as Washington expresses concerns about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s backing of Libya’s eastern forces, as well as the threat posed to the U.S. military presence in neighboring Niger by the new military junta in Niamey. Analysts see this as part of a broader U.S. strategy to counter growing Russian influence across the African continent.