SEBHA, Libya – Brigadier General Saddam Khafila, commander of the Libyan National Army’s (LNA) joint operations room, inspected military operations in southern Libya on Saturday as part of a major security sweep aimed at stabilizing the restive region.
Khafila, along with Major General Al-Mabrouk Sehban, commander of LNA’s southern military zone, and other senior officers toured residential buildings in the Um Al-Aranib district of Sebha. Their visit was to review progress of ongoing security activities, according to a statement by the LNA’s media office.
The inspection comes a day after the LNA announced the launch of military operations to purge southern areas of foreign armed groups and human trafficking networks.
OVER 2,000 HOMES CLEARED
The LNA’s morale guidance department in Sebha said over 2,000 housing units in the Chinese-constructed apartment blocks in Um Al-Aranib had been evacuated. The homes were previously inhabited by many Chadian opposition fighters and their families.
Authorities said permanent security measures would now be implemented to allow construction companies to resume work and hand over the housing units to Libyan families as per the country’s laws.
AIRBORNE LANDING REPORTED
Meanwhile, LNA spokesperson Brigadier Ahmed Al-Mismari confirmed air forces were carrying out strikes on foreign armed groups at the Libyan-Chadian border. He also noted a parachute landing by the Tariq Bin Ziyad Brigade’s special forces behind enemy lines to undertake specific combat missions.
The LNA maintains aerial surveillance over the entire area of ongoing military operations in the south, added Al-Mismari.