Members of Wagner group sit atop of a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023. - President Vladimir Putin on June 24, 2023 said an armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was a "stab in the back" and that the group's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had betrayed Russia, as he vowed to punish the dissidents. Prigozhin said his fighters control key military sites in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. (Photo by Roman ROMOKHOV / AFP)

Home » Drone strikes hit Wagner Group’s airbase in Libya’s east

Drone strikes hit Wagner Group’s airbase in Libya’s east

Drone strikes early Friday hit an airbase in Libya’s east used by mercenaries of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, without causing any casualties, a military official told AFP. ALSO READ: Libya UN special representative expresses concern over vote deal DRONE ATTACKS The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the origin of the overnight strikes on the […]

By Mimi Mfundisi
30-06-23 12:42
in Africa
Members of Wagner group sit atop of a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023. - President Vladimir Putin on June 24, 2023 said an armed mutiny by Wagner mercenaries was a "stab in the back" and that the group's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin had betrayed Russia, as he vowed to punish the dissidents. Prigozhin said his fighters control key military sites in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. (Photo by Roman ROMOKHOV / AFP)

Drone strikes early Friday hit an airbase in Libya’s east used by mercenaries of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, without causing any casualties, a military official told AFP.

ALSO READ: Libya UN special representative expresses concern over vote deal

DRONE ATTACKS

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the origin of the overnight strikes on the Al-Kharruba airbase, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Benghazi, was “unknown”.

ALSO READ: UN insists on dignity for migrants and asylum seekers in Libya

The base that was hit is “where members of the Wagner group are located”, the official said, adding there were “no victims”.

Libya has been torn by more than a decade of stop-start conflict since a 2011 revolt toppled strongman Moamer Kadhafi, which has also drawn in multiple foreign powers.

ALSO READ: It’s been 6 years since SA’s Van Deventer was kidnapped in Libya 

The North African country remains split between a nominally interim government in Tripoli in the west, and another in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Alongside fighters from Chad, Sudan, Niger and Syria recruited as mercenaries, the Wagner group has come to Haftar’s help including in his past failed attempt to take the capital.

ALSO READ: UN calls for accountability push in Libya as war crimes probe ends

Wagner mercenaries remain active in oil-rich eastern Libya as well as the country’s south, though some had left to fight in Mali and Ukraine, supporting the Russian army’s invasion.

Original article by Africa News Agency (ANA).

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