Three Haftar forces killed in Libya-Niger border clash

Three Libyan soldiers from the army of eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar were killed in clashes at the border with Niger, the force announced on Monday.

Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), which controls eastern Libya and parts of the south, said it “mourns the death of three soldiers” during a “cowardly attack carried out by mercenary groups and outlaw terrorist gangs in the early hours of Saturday, January 31.”

“Three simultaneous attacks” were launched against three checkpoints along the border between the two countries, the LNA said in a statement.

Several other fighters were “wounded and a number captured,” according to a statement posted on Facebook by the LNA command, which said it was determined to free them from “bands that fled toward Niger.”

The border area has seen relatively frequent attacks against Haftar’s forces, which often repel them.

Unverified images circulated on social media on Saturday showed men in military uniforms presenting themselves as “fighters and revolutionaries of the south,” claiming they had taken control of one of the border posts.

Libya remains divided between a UN-backed government based in Tripoli and an eastern administration supported by Haftar.