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Libya: Haftar Forces Take Control of Sabha Citadel

Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRCG) Ghassan Salame with Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (UNSMIL)
Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRCG) Ghassan Salame with Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (UNSMIL)
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Libya: Haftar Forces Take Control of Sabha Citadel

Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRCG) Ghassan Salame with Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (UNSMIL)
Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRCG) Ghassan Salame with Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (UNSMIL)

The Libyan armed forces have tightened their grip on several strategic targets that fall under the control of “criminal groups,” notably Sabha International Airport, the city's historic citadel and the Mountain Hotel.

This comes as part of the offensive that the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar, has launched to liberate the southern cities from terrorist groups.

Military battalions announced that the Tariq bin Ziad battalion, 106th brigade and Buhliqa’s 128th and 21st battalions, as well as several military units, captured various locations south of Sabha.

Flights at Sabha International Airport were suspended in January 2014 due to repeated clashes in the vicinity of the 6th Brigade based in the Citadel.

The southern operations command announced on Thursday that it had entered the airport after pursuing criminal gangs. It handed the airport’s control to Tariq bin Ziad battalion, which was confirmed by Colonel Mohammed Abdul Salam al-Misnaie.

In addition, the LNA’s 119th Infantry Division announced Friday that, after capturing the airport and fortress, the military units moved south to seize the rest of the camps, which the Chadian opposition has taken as a safe haven.

LNA spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed al-Mismari announced that army units advanced in “several areas in the south” from an airbase 650 kilometers from the capital, Tripoli, pointing out that the main target is “to ensure security of residents in the southwest and protect them from terrorists,” whether ISIS, al-Qaeda or criminal gangs.

In the meantime, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRCG) Ghassan Salame continued his efforts to hold a unifying national Libyan conference, the date for which has not been set yet.

On Thursday, Salame met with Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte in Rome for an in-depth discussion on the situation in Libya. The Italian official expressed strong support for the UN-facilitated political process, announced the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL)

The SRCG believes the national convention is very crucial, saying: “It is vital that the National Conference is held under the right conditions, with the right people, and that it is capable of concluding with an outcome that is agreeable to the broad majority.”

“We are working night and day to pull together these various elements to ensure the most productive event," Salame told the United Nations Security Council.

While the UNSMIL did not give further details on the Salame and Conte meeting, former Italian Interior Minister Marco Minetti said Libya was “not a safe harbor” for immigrants.

Minetti told AKI News Agency that Libya's instability is due to its failure to sign the 1951 Refugee Convention.

Palermo's mayor Loluca Orlando also criticized Tripoli’s efforts in dealing with immigrants, and described Libya as an “open-air detention camp” for migrants.

Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG) and Humanitarian Coordinator in Libya Maria Ribeiro discussed with Local Government Minister Milad Taher cooperation to provide humanitarian and development support to Libyans in the east, west and south, including the launch of the Humanitarian Response Plan 2019.

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Arab World

Lebanon Ex-central Bank Chief's Corruption Case Being Dent to Top Court

The BDL headquarters in Beirut (NNA) 
The BDL headquarters in Beirut (NNA) 
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Lebanon Ex-central Bank Chief's Corruption Case Being Dent to Top Court

The BDL headquarters in Beirut (NNA) 
The BDL headquarters in Beirut (NNA) 

The corruption case of Lebanon's former central bank governor, who is widely blamed for the country’s economic meltdown, has been transferred to the country's highest court, judicial officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Riad Salameh was released on $14 million bail in September after a year in prison while awaiting trial in Lebanon on corruption charges, including embezzlement and illicit enrichment.

The trial of Salameh, 75, and his two legal associates, Marwan Khoury and Michel Toueini, will now be heard at the Court of Cassation, according to a copy of the notice obtained by the AP. Salameh and the others will be issued with arrest warrants if they don't show up for trial at the court.

No trial date has been set yet. Salameh denies the charges. The court’s final ruling can't be appealed, according to the four officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, because they weren't authorized to speak with the media.

In September 2024, he was charged with the embezzlement of $42 million, with the court later adding charges of illicit enrichment over an apartment rented in France, supposedly to be a substitute office for the central bank if needed. Officials have said that Salameh had rented from his former romantic partner for about $500,000 annually.

He was once celebrated for steering Lebanon’s economic recovery, after a 15-year civil war, upon starting his long tenure in 1993 and keeping the fragile economy afloat during long spells of political gridlock and turmoil.

But in 2023, he left his post after three decades with several European countries investigating allegations of financial crimes. Meanwhile, much of the Lebanese blame his policies for sparking a fiscal crisis in late 2019 where depositors lost their savings, and the value of the local currency collapsed.

On top of the inquiry in Lebanon, he is being investigated by a handful of European countries over various corruption charges. In August 2023, the United States, United Kingdom and Canada imposed sanctions on Salameh.

Salameh has repeatedly denied allegations of corruption, embezzlement and illicit enrichment. He insists that his wealth comes from inherited properties, investments and his previous job as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch.

Lebanon’s current central bank governor, Karim Souaid, announced last week that he's filing legal complaints against a former central bank governor and former banking official who diverted funds from the bank to what he said were four shell companies in the Cayman Islands. He didn't name either individual.

But Souaid said that Lebanon's central bank would become a plaintiff in the country's investigation into Forry Associates. The US Treasury, upon sanctioning Salameh and his associates, described Forry Associates as “a shell company owned by Raja (Salameh’s brother) in the British Virgin Islands” used to divert about $330 million in transactions related to the central bank.

Several European countries, among them France, Germany, and Luxembourg, have been investigating the matter, freezing bank accounts and assets related to Salameh and his associates, with little to no cooperation from the central bank and Lebanese authorities.

Souaid said that he will travel later this month to Paris to exchange “highly sensitive” information as France continues its inquiries.

Arab World

Over 100 Children Killed in Gaza Since Ceasefire, UNICEF Says

Palestinians walk past tents used by displaced people, during a windy winter day, in Gaza City, January 13, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk past tents used by displaced people, during a windy winter day, in Gaza City, January 13, 2026. (Reuters)
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Over 100 Children Killed in Gaza Since Ceasefire, UNICEF Says

Palestinians walk past tents used by displaced people, during a windy winter day, in Gaza City, January 13, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk past tents used by displaced people, during a windy winter day, in Gaza City, January 13, 2026. (Reuters)

The UN children's agency said on Tuesday that over ​100 children have been killed in Gaza since the October ceasefire, including victims of drone and quadcopter attacks.

“More than 100 children have ‌been killed ‌in Gaza ‌since ⁠the ceasefire ​of ‌early October," UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters at a UN briefing by video link from Gaza.

"Survival remains conditional, whilst ⁠the bombings and the shootings ‌have slowed, have ‍reduced during ‍the ceasefire, they have not ‍stopped."

He said that nearly all the deaths of the 60 boys and ​40 girls were from military attacks including air ⁠strikes, drone strikes, tank shelling, gunfire and quadcopters and a few were from war remnants that exploded.

The tally is likely an underestimate since it is only based on deaths for which sufficient ‌information was available, he said.

Arab World

Syrian Army Tells Kurdish Forces to Withdraw from Area East of Aleppo City

Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
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Syrian Army Tells Kurdish Forces to Withdraw from Area East of Aleppo City

Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)
Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP)

Syria's army told Kurdish forces on Tuesday to withdraw from an area they control east of Aleppo after dislodging fighters from two neighborhoods in the city in deadly clashes last week.

State television published an army statement with a map declaring a large area a "closed military zone" and said "all armed groups in this area must withdraw to east of the Euphrates" River.

The area begins near Deir Hafer, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Aleppo city and extends to the Euphrates further east, as well as towards the south.

On Monday, Syria accused the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces of sending reinforcements to Deir Hafer and said it sent its own personnel there in response.

The SDF denied any build-up of its forces in the region.

An AFP correspondent saw government forces bringing military reinforcements including artillery to the Deir Hafer area on Tuesday.

On the weekend, Syria's government took full control of Aleppo city after taking over its Kurdish neighborhoods and evacuating fighters there to Kurdish-controlled areas in the country's northeast following days of clashes.

The violence started last Tuesday after negotiations stalled on integrating the Kurds' de facto autonomous administration and forces into the country's new government.

The SDF controls swathes of the country's oil-rich north and northeast, much of which they captured during Syria's civil war and the fight against the ISIS group.