Libya's LNA Launches Operation Near Southern Border after Chad Clashes

Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari. (AFP file photo)
Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari. (AFP file photo)
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Libya's LNA Launches Operation Near Southern Border after Chad Clashes

Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari. (AFP file photo)
Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari. (AFP file photo)

Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) has launched a military operation to secure the southern border, it said on Friday, after fighting near the area resumed between the government of Chad and a rebel group trying to unseat it.

Chad's President Mahamat Idriss Deby said on Sunday that the army was again fighting the Libya-based Chadian Front for Change and Concord (FACT) group, which quit a ceasefire last week amid clashes.

LNA spokesperson Ahmed al-Mismari said the operation would involve land and air forces. An LNA media unit distributed photographs of Haftar's son, Saddam Haftar, overseeing the operation with other LNA officers.

The media unit said the LNA had expelled members of the Chadian opposition and their families from a residential area they were using in a desert town 300km (200 miles) north of the border with Chad.

Libya has had little internal peace or security since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against Moammar al-Gaddafi, and its southern desert border has become a major transit route for trafficking networks.



China's Xi Visits Morocco, Meets with Crown Prince

Chinese President Xi Jinping. Reuters
Chinese President Xi Jinping. Reuters
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China's Xi Visits Morocco, Meets with Crown Prince

Chinese President Xi Jinping. Reuters
Chinese President Xi Jinping. Reuters

Chinese President Xi Jinping made a short visit to Morocco on Thursday, according to state media from both countries.
Xi was welcomed in Casablanca by Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan and the visit reflected the strong bonds of friendship, cooperation, and solidarity between the Moroccan and Chinese peoples, Morocco's MAP said.
The Crown Prince and Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch met Xi at the airport, where Xi and Hassan had a "cordial conversation", China's state broadcaster CCTV said.
Xi made the visit after being in Brazil for the G20 Summit.
China has stepped up investments in Morocco's infrastructure and rail sector in recent years.
Morocco's geographic location close to Europe, its free trade agreements with key EU and US markets and its existing automotive industry, make it attractive to Chinese electric vehicle battery makers.
In June, Chinese EV battery manufacturer Gotion High Tech picked Morocco to set up Africa's first gigafactory for a total cost of $1.3 billion.