US Forces Evacuated from Libya as Haftar Seeks Military Control

• 04.07.2019, 19:50
•  Near East,  World

army.mil

US forces were dramatically evacuated from the Libyan capital on Sunday as fighting raged in the city between militia allied to the UN-backed government of Tripoli and the self-styled Libyan National Army led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the leading military figure from the east, The Guardian reports.

The evacuation is the first public acknowledgement that the US has forces in Libya, with the US Africa Command saying in a statement: “Due to increased unrest in Libya a contingent of US forces supporting US Africa Command temporarily relocated from the country in response to security conditions on the ground.”

The US gave no details of the size of the force, or its mission, but said it might be sent back later. “We will continue to monitor conditions on the ground and assess the feasibility for renewed US military presence, as appropriate,” it said.

In the past, US special forces have been deployed, along with British and French elite units, to fight Islamic State in Libya in the last three years. The US has launched more than a dozen sets of airstrikes against Isis in the southern desert.