Military situation
+ On March 30th in the evening the LNA shot down a Turkish drone in the Libyan capital Tripoli. Another drone was launched south of Tripoli
The LNA announces that it has shot down a Turkish plane south of Tripoli after taking off from Mitiga Airport.
LNA forces were able to push the militias back in fighting on the road to Abu Salim Prison in Tripoli.
The LNA announced that it was advancing in the Abu Slim district of Tripoli and had brought the al-Hadba complex under its control after fighting. An attack by the militias of the ‘unit government’ had been repelled.
According to the LNA, the armed forces have successfully prevented an attack by militias supported by Syrian mercenaries on the al-Mashroua front and the road to the airport. “The attack started in the morning and ended as a complete failure.”
The militias of the ‘unity government’ are trying to advance on the Tuwasha and Ramla fronts. As the LNA continues to advance, militias from the ‘unit government’ randomly fire at residential areas with tanks.
The LNA is carrying out air strikes in Abu Grein.
+ LNA troops are transferred from the Fessan and the Kyrenaika to the Misrata area.
+ In western Libya, talks between the city of Zuwara and the LNA are difficult. While the Council of Elders wants to negotiate with the LNA to avoid hostility with the neighboring cities of Riqdalin and al-Jmail, armed militias in Zuwara are trying to stop these talks. The Zuwara militias still hope for support from other militias of the ‘unity government’, which will hardly ever exist.
Zuwara is a Berber town on the Mediterranean Sea in western Libya, close to the Tunisian border, and has gained notoriety for its smuggling and smuggling activities.
At the border crossing to Tunisia (Ras Adschdir), the LNA is still negotiating with the remains of the militias and the Tunisian government that have remained there in order to make the handover peaceful.
The Syrian Human Rights Observatory said that many of the Syrian fighters brought from Turkey to Libya are frustrated because Turkey does not keep the promises they made. They regretted being involved in this Libyan conflict. The situation in Libya was bad and they would not get their wages paid according to the agreement. In a phone conversation with home, a mercenary said: “We all want to return to Syria. Many are preparing for their return. ”
Https://almarsad.co/en/2020/03/29/pro-turkey-syrian-militants-warn-counterparts-not-to-come-to-libya/
The LNA announces the death of Colonel Ali Sayidi Altabawi in yesterday’s fighting with militias of the ‘united government’ in Tripoli. Altabawi came from southern Libya and was a senior member of the Pan-African and Libyan Jamahiriya armies.
Corona virus
The number of people suffering from Covid-10 has risen to eight in Libya. The World Health Authority sees Libya among the high-risk countries.
+ The ‘Minister of Health’ Ehmeid Bin Omar has resigned from his post.
LibyaDesk noted that Tripoli is extremely poorly prepared for the corona crisis: “One of the most corrupt officials in the ‘unity government’ is Deputy Minister of Health Mohamed Haitham. Haitham has been involved in several corruption cases, both in the medical field and in the treatment of injured soldiers abroad. It is difficult to hold him accountable. Haitham, like many other officials, obtained his position with the help of a militia. As we write here, the budget of half a billion dinars to fight Covid-19 is being shared between Haitham and his usual workforce. ”
While the ‘united government’ is providing lists to show how it has provided 75 million Libyan dinars to communities to help fight Covid-19, the LNA claims that these benefits are only on paper. In truth, no help or money was given to the communities.
The leader of the Misrata-al-Somud militia, Salah Badi, also called for the deposition of the under-secretary of the health ministry of the ‘unitary government’ Mohammed al-Warfalli. The reason given was the unfair distribution of funds to combat the corona pandemic.
+ Libya Desk certifies that it has made “impressive preparation for the encounter with Covid-19” in eastern Libya; even Misrata responded appropriately to the threat.
The US embassy announced that it plans to provide Libya with $ 6 million in financial aid for the Covid 19 crisis.
+ Although all international aid goes exclusively to the ‘United Government’ in Tripoli, the LNA will do everything possible to protect the population from the corona virus.
+ The city of Tobruk in the east announces the arrival of 18 ventilators and other medical supplies.
The southern city of Ghadames has imposed a curfew due to the corona virus.
+ The Department of Health of the ‘United Government’ in Tripoli has hospitals supplied with medical devices and medicines.
+ In Libya, all court hearings will be suspended until further notice.
+ The Supreme Committee to Combat the Corona Pandemic (SCCCE) in Benghazi gave instructions to monitor prices in the markets. Unjustified price increases would have to be prevented.
Military bases that the LNA has taken from the militias of the ‘unitary government’ in Tripoli are now disinfected.
‘ Unity government ‘
The cohesion of the militias of the ‘unity government’ is dissolving. So on 30.03. an attack by a Misrata militia on the office of the President of the ‘United Government’ as-Sarradsch. A dispute eased over the lack of comment by the ‘unit government’ on the 158 deaths and 309 injuries in the past 4 days.
Journalist Lindsay Snell said Syrian mercenaries will no longer be flown from Turkey to Libya for the next nine days. However, not to stop the spread of the corona virus, but because the Syrian mercenaries refuse to be sent to their deaths.
Migrants
+ The German rescue ship Alan Kurdi has embarked on a new Mediterranean mission and will arrive off the coast of Libya next weekend. Precautions were taken against the outbreak of Covid-19 on board. Alan Kurdi is the only civil rescue ship off the Libyan coast.
This year, more than 3,500 people have tried to get to Europe via the Mediterranean. According to the IOM, more than 150 people drowned. Since 2014, more than 20,000 people have died in the Mediterranean.
various
+ The LNA managed to free two employees of the Sharara oil field who were kidnapped by militias on July 14, 2018. The employees were a Libyan and a Romanian.
+ On March 30th LNA announced that two flights between Istanbul and Misrata Airport and Mitiga Airport in Tripoli were reported within 38 hours, despite the fact that all air traffic was stopped to protect against Covid-19. These flights were not registered and were presumably intended for the transportation of weapons, military equipment and Syrian mercenaries.
Syrian mercenaries are feared to carry the coronavirus to Libya.
+ Tunisian President Kais Saied telephoned Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi about the initiative he had taken to solve the Libyan crisis. Tunisia also believes that the solution can only come from Libya itself.
On March 29, President Saied had already discussed the situation in Libya with the President of Niger Mohamadou Issoufou by telephone.
+ The EU has called on all member states of the United Nations to respect the arms embargo against Libya, while urging the country’s warring parties to end hostilities and focus on containing the coronavirus pandemic. The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Joseph Borrell said: “We are again calling on all UN member states to respect and maintain the UN arms embargo, to stop the influx of foreign fighters into Libya and to refrain from destabilizing actions, which could further worsen the already fragile situation in the country ”.
