Glossary of Belligerents

Aerial Conflict Belligerents in Libya¹

Local Belligerents

• Government of National Accord (GNA) In December 2015, the United Nations brokered a political agreement between rival factions that were competing for influence in Libya after the toppling of the regime of Muammar al-Gaddafi. This resulted in the formation of the GNA, which was organized to oversee a political transition and consolidation of power. The GNA remains in conflict with the Libyan National Army (LNA), an armed rival organization with support in the east of Libya, which is obstructing the 2015 agreement. The GNA is based in Tripoli and led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.
• The Libyan National Army (LNA) Led by Gen. Khalifa Haftar, the LNA came to the fore in mid-2014 with the launch of Operation Dignity and effectively exercises control over the eastern part of the country. Haftar and his supporters battled Islamist militias in Benghazi for over three years before finally defeating them.
• General National Congress (GNC) In the immediate aftermath of the Gaddafi regime’s collapse, a transitional government held elections for a temporary legislative body. This congress was intended to govern for one and a half years before holding parliamentary elections. On July 7, 2012, the GNC was elected by popular vote. In conjunction with and under pressure from militias, the GNC passed a law that barred a broad spectrum of Libyans from government employment. This exclusionary move, as well as opposition to the GNC’s extension of its mandate and the alleged support of some parliamentarians for Islamist radicals in Benghazi, spurred a number of physical threats against it and the launch of Gen. Haftar’s Operation Dignity in 2014. Elections in June 2014 for the GNC’s successor body, the House of Representatives (HOR), failed to resolve the standoff and effectively split the country when the HOR moved to the Haftar-controlled east.

Foreign Belligerents

• United States The United States was drawn into the NATO intervention in 2011 by international pressure to protect civilians in Libya. The military participated in an aggressive aerial campaign against the Gaddafi regime. The United States is among the nations that continue to conduct airstrikes in Libya against ISIS and al-Qaeda.
• France played a leading role in the 2011 NATO intervention and its eventual outcome, though its subsequent military role inside the country is less clear. The government’s rationale for remaining entrenched in Libyan affairs today can be explained by Libya’s close links to French interests in the Sahel, its importance as a transit route for migrants and asylum seekers, and domestic political considerations after a series of jihadist attacks on French soil in 2015. France, which supported the U.N. negotiations that produced the GNA, signaled a shift in its Libya position under President Emmanuel Macron. In May 2017, for the first time, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal urged a role for the LNA and Haftar in “defeating the terrorists” across Libya.²

• Egypt, which borders Libya, has provided an array of military and political support to the Haftar-led LNA, including advisers, weapons and airstrikes. In doing this, Egypt has worked closely with Russia and the United Arab Emirates. While Egypt’s original motive in backing Haftar may have been to prevent the ascendance of political Islamists, airstrikes now seem directed more at securing its border with Libya. Egyptian airstrikes in support of the LNA are in violation of the U.N. arms embargo instituted by Security Council Resolution 1970 and challenge the legitimacy of the U.N.-led negotiation process that produced the GNA. In addition, Egypt has declared a number of unilateral airstrikes inside Libya’s borders that it says were aimed at preventing the entry of militants and weapons into Egypt.
• United Arab Emirates (UAE) The UAE has provided military support to Haftar’s LNA. The Emirates operate an air base in LNA territory from which they have reportedly flown drones and piloted close air support missions in support of the LNA’s operations in Benghazi.³ Because the UAE is conducting strikes in support of the LNA, which is an opposition group, Emirati airstrikes are also in violation of the U.N. arms embargo instituted by Security Council Resolution 1970. Together with Egypt, the UAE is also reported to have launched airstrikes against Operation Dawn forces in Tripoli in August 2014.