Sudan, South Sudan to send militias to Libya to rescue General Khalifa Haftar

JUBA/KHARTOUM – The United Arab Emirates has requested the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of Sudan, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and South Sudan’s President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, to send military reinforcement to Libya to back warlord Khalifa Haftar’s offensive on Tripoli.

According to a well-informed source, Dagalo, aka Hemetti, agreed to send two armed factions to the north African country, within the efforts of the United Arab Emirates to save its hand in Libya, Khalifa Haftar. For his part, the source said, Kiir asked for one week to decide on the issue.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the United Arab Emirates promised to send financial and military support to Hemetti in return for dispatching his forces to Libya.

Thousands of Sudanese mercenaries are currently fighting in several fronts in Libya with many have been killed. The mercenaries are sharing their photos and videos on Facebook from Sirte and southern Tripoli fronts claiming “We are here to free Libya from terrorism.”

Sudan has denied the participation of any Sudanese forces in the ongoing fighting in Libya.

Sudan’s Radio Dabanga reported in July 2019 that Hemetti had sent around 4,000 RSF troops to Libya to protect oil installations in the oil crescent region in order to allow forces loyal to warlord Khalifa Haftar to concentrate all their power on the Tripoli attack.

Also in the same month, Aljazeera disclosed documents that prove Sudan had used its airspace to transport hundreds of mercenaries recruited by Hemetti to Libya.

The United Nations Panel of Experts on Sudan reported early this year that Darfur fighters are fighting for Khalifa Haftar’s forces in Libya as mercenaries as they aim to strengthen their military might by earning money and weapons through Libya.

The involvement of the United Arab Emirates in Libya and Sudan’s affairs has deepened with the recruitment of Sudanese nationals as mercenaries fighting in Libya and Yemen.

An Emirati firm called Black Shield has entrapped hundreds of Sudanese nationals by offering jobs in the UAE as security guards for hospitals and malls, but finally they ended up fighting in Libya.

As fighting continues in southern Tripoli, warlord Khalifa Haftar has suffered great losses, especially after the loss of seven coastal cities in around seven hours.

The UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord is now mobilizing forces to attack the last two strongholds of Haftar in western Libya, Tarhuna city and Watiya airbase. With the collapse of these two strategic locations, the fighting would move to Sirte and Jufra airbase in central Libya.