Libya and the war in the time of the novel coronavirus have started to sound much like an epic, and have indeed become a very difficult equation for the Libyan National Army on multiple fronts, who now seems to be fighting two enemies at once. The first enemy is obvious and treacherous, and by fighting it is fighting the sponsors of chaos and terrorism, Turkey, Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood in a war that can be considered to be undertaken by the Libyan National Army on behalf of the world to expel a treacherous enemy: terrorism. Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic is the second enemy which Libya is fighting like all other countries who are swamped with their own hassle.
The war in Libya is now a war for the liberation of its capital and surrounding areas from the dominion of various militias. The Libyan National Army undertook a unilateral ceasefire in compliance with international appeals to give global health efforts the chance to fight the pandemic, especially after the coronavirus had invaded the entire world. The militias, however, violated the ceasefire, and instead launched a military operation that was unfortunately declared by the Government of National Accord’s (GNA) Presidential Council.
A group of Syrian mercenaries attacked a military base south of Tripoli in an attempt to take control over it. The attack cost the mercenaries majorly in terms of casualties and prisoners who have become Erdogan’s fuel in funding the war in Libya to keep the Brotherhood afloat in Tripoli.
In an inhumane precedent, the militias took advantage of the pandemic to launch an attack on the cities of Sabratah, Surman and Ajilat, while proudly and explicitly carrying ISIS flags. The moment they entered those cities that had supported the Libyan National Army, they began their usual assaults and field executions. The militias slaughtered the supervisor of education in Sabratah and burned down police stations, considering them to be signs of the civil state. Nobody was safe from the militias, not even the municipal security guards.
These militias were indeed in agreement with the GNA. The Prime Minister of the latter rushed to adopt the invasion of Sabratah and Surman.
The fact that those who carried out the attack declare allegiance to ISIS, poses so many questions about the truth behind the alliance between the GNA and these militias that had only very recently taken over Sabratah, Derna and Benghazi before the Libyan National Army was able to chase them out. Now we see them return to these cities with the pro-al-Qaeda Benghazi Defense Brigades as militias in the ranks of the GNA’s forces.
The moral failure of the GNA, after deciding to launch attacks at the same time the first coronavirus case was announced, is added to its list of many humanitarian and moral failures in how it dealt with the militias and fell for their blackmail.
In the time of the virus, the Libyan National Army was able to fight off repeated attacks by drones and Syrian mercenaries supported by pro-GNA militias who are in turn supported by Turkey. Turkey is considered the primary creator of chaos in Libya, providing political and military support to the militias to take over the capital and establish a fait accompli in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood that has nearly fallen in Tripoli.
The pandemic did not make Erdogan shy away from supporting terrorism, on the contrary, he has supported the establishment of terrorist groups and security agencies to prepare mercenaries from Syria, mostly affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, al-Nusra Front and the Sultan Murad Division that includes mercenaries that were transferred by Turkish intelligence from Syria to fight in Libya in exchange for 2,000 USD per fighter and a promise to treat whoever is injured and to transfer their bodies in case they were killed. The expenses for this are paid by the GNA, who admitted to the presence of Syrian fighters in Libya, but with Turkish passports, confirming Erdogan’s complicity in transferring mercenaries and creating chaos in Libya.
The war in the time of coronavirus has forced the Libyan National Army to fight on two fronts, the first has been ongoing for a while, its war on terror, while the second is against the coronavirus pandemic. The army was able to shut down the borders and impose a lockdown and curfew and help medical teams build field hospitals and equip them with ventilators in light of the government’s weakness and the unprecedented collapse of the Libyan healthcare system and infrastructure.
