France

France publicly acknowledges it still has special forces deployed in Libya, says anti-tank missiles found in Libya were ‘unusable’

cde.news desk 10 July 2019, 14:00 · 1 min read

epa04143873 A French special forces soldier approaches a helicopter to escort passengers as a helicpoter arrives at Bosaso airport from the EU NAVFOR (European Union Naval Force) French flagship FS Siroco off the coast of the port city Bosaso, in Somalia's semi-autonomous state Puntland, 27 March 2014. Puntland leaders including the President Abdiweli Mohamed met European Union ambassadors from France, UK, Spain, Italy, Netherlands and Denmark off the coast of Somalia to discuss political, security, development cooperation issues between Somalia and and EU member states. 'Together with the EU Naval Force's Atalanta mission and the EU Capacity Building 'Nestor' mission, the EU and other international partners will continue to engage with the Somalis to increase their capabilities to fight piracy and other illegal activities at sea and to reinforce maritime security', said Michele Cervone d'Urso said in a statement. US State Department's coordinator for counter-piracy and maritime security issues Donna Hopkins said on 20 February 2014 that Western-led naval operations and improved security measures by commercial ships have resulted in a sharp decline in piracy operations off the coast of Somalia. There has been no piracy hijackings off the coast of Somalia since May 2012, which is the lowest rate of attempted hijackings in over six years, said Hopkins. However, Hopkins warned that 'the fundamental conditions along the Somali coast have not changed, and if we drop our guard, piracy will return.' The World Bank in its 2013 report also said the international community must 'go after the system, not just the pirates' and 'focus on helping the nation (Somalia) build a functional political system' to get to the root cause of the problem. The report says increasing security and naval pressure is too costly and would not be sustainable in the long run. EPA/DAI KUROKAWA

France said on Wednesday anti-tank missiles it bought from the United States and were later found in a base belonging to troops loyal to Libya’s eastern commander Khalifa Haftar were never intended for sale or transfer to any party to Libya’s conflict.

The Army Ministry said the missiles were intended for the “self-protection of a French military unit deployed to carry out intelligence and counter-terrorism operations”.

“Damaged and unusable, the armaments were being temporarily stocked at a depot ahead of their destruction,” the ministry said in a statement.

It is the first time since 2016 that France has publicly acknowledged it still has special forces deployed in Libya. It is not clear how many troops are deployed.

The cache of four Javelin anti-tank missiles were discovered after forces loyal to the U.N.-backed government raided the camp in Gheryan, in the mountains south of Tripoli, on June 26, the New York Times earlier reported.

In its statement, the Army Ministry denied the Javelins had been transferred to a local force, and reiterated that the arms were not subject to import restrictions because they were intended for the protection of French troops.

Via Reuters

Filed under France Libya

Topics France javelin missiles Libya special forces

France publicly acknowledges it still has special forces deployed in Libya, says anti-tank missiles found in Libya were ‘unusable’

More from France

French Senate backs bill making protesters pay up to €10,000 for unrest damage

France reports first human case of livestock virus Shamonda

Macron rebukes French authorities over handling of protest violence