UAE sent 100 arms shipments to Haftar: Libya gov't

By Walid Abdullah

TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) – The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has dispatched some 100 shipments of weapons to renegade Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar since last month, the internationally recognized government said Monday.

In a statement, the media center of the government's "Operation Volcano of Rage" said 100 flights have transferred almost 6,200 tons of weapons from the UAE to Haftar since Jan. 12.

The planes carrying the weapons took off from Suweihan Air Base in the UAE and Assab airbase in Eritrea, the statement said.

Arms shipments to Libya violate UN Security Council resolution 1970, which bans weapon exports to the war-torn country.

A 2017 UN report has accused the UAE of exporting weapons to Haftar, whose forces have launched a military offensive in April to capture the capital Tripoli from the internationally recognized government.

Since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: Haftar in eastern Libya supported mainly by Egypt and the UAE, and the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara