A Bayraktar TB2 combat drone. Source: Baykar.
Libya’s Government of National Unity (GNU) stepped up drone strikes on Friday against what it said were smuggling gangs in the country’s western regions.
On June 2, a new wave of drone strikes hit targets in the towns of Zawiya, Zuwara, Ajeelat and Maya. Material losses were reported. However, there were no casualties.
The Tripoli-based GNU claims that the strikes, which began on May 25, are targeting gangs involved in the smuggling of fuel, narcotics and humans. However, some of the strikes targeted factions opposed to Prime Minister Abdelhamid al-Dbeibah.
The House of Representatives (HoR), which is based in the eastern city of Benghazi, said this week the drone strikes were aimed at “settling political scores”, saying one had targeted the home of a parliament member.
Opponents of the GNU also made the point that the strikes are actually being carried out by Turkish-operated combat drones, which were deployed by Ankara in Libya some four years ago to support the now-defunct Government of National Accord.
Responding to these accusations, al-Dbeibah said on May 31 that “those who direct these important and modern planes are Libyans”.
Al-Debibah appears to be determined to go on with the military campaign, despite facing much criticism. The prime minister’s office released June 1 footage showing recent drone strikes that targeted fuel storage facilities, boats and vehicles in Western Libya.
Libya has been unstable since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed strongman Moamer Kadhafi in 2011. The country is split between the GNA and a rival government based in Benghazi and backed by the HoR and the Libyan National Army, which is led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Zawiya and nearby towns in western Libya have long been seen as a center of fuel, narcotics and human trafficking. Factions opposed to the GNU, and others allied to it are active in the region.
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