Drone strikes of unknown origin on Thursday night targeted an air base in eastern Libya where mercenaries from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner are believed to be stationed, without causing any casualties, according to a military source.
The source, who requested anonymity, told AFP that drones “of unknown origin struck the al-Kharrouba air base, located 150 km south-east of Benghazi (east), where elements of the Wagner group are believed to be based”.
“The strikes caused no casualties”, she added.
Libya has been in the grip of a major political crisis since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, undermined by divisions between east and west and foreign interference.
From April 2019 to June 2020, Khalifa Haftar, the strongman of eastern Libya, used Chadian, Sudanese, Nigerian and Syrian fighters, but above all mercenaries from Wagner, in his failed attempt to seize the capital Tripoli.
Since then, hundreds of Wagner members have remained active in the east, in the area of the oil terminals, and in the south of Libya after some of their troops left for Mali or Ukraine to fight alongside the Russian army.
