Libyan National Army
Armed forces under the control of Khalifa Haftar mostly in the East of Libya / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Libyan National Army (LNA; Arabic: الجيش الوطني الليبي, al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii) or the Libyan Arab Army (LAA; Arabic: الجيش العربي الليبي, al-Jaysh al-'Arabiyy al-Lībii)[3] is a component of Libya's military forces which were nominally a unified national force under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar when he was nominated to the role on 2 March 2015[24] by the House of Representatives, consisting at the time of a ground force, an air force and a navy.
In 2014, LNA launched Operation Dignity, a military campaign against the General National Congress and armed militias and Islamist militant organizations. When the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) was established in Tripoli, part of the Libyan military forces were named the Libyan Army to contrast with the other part that retained the LNA identity. In the Second Libyan Civil War, the LNA is loyal to that part of the Libyan House of Representatives that meets in Tobruk, internationally recognised until October 2015. It fights against the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, as well as Islamic State in Libya which is a common enemy for both LNA and the Libyan Army.
About half of the LNA consists of militias[2][25] including Madkhali (Salafist) militias[26] and Sudanese, Chadian[2][25] and Russian mercenaries, which together constitute part of the LNA's effective forces.[27] The LNA possesses its own air force. Most of the Libyan Navy is loyal to the GNA.[28][25]
Interventions in the political system by the LNA include the late 2016 replacement of nine elected municipal councils out of a total of 27, replacing elected mayors by mostly military individuals[29][30][31] and, according to witnesses cited by The Independent, the 17 July 2019 abduction of House of Representatives member Seham Sergiwa at her home in Benghazi by the 106th Brigade.[32][33] The LNA stated that it was not responsible for the Sergiwa abduction.[32]