In a first, Libya's rival forces take part in joint US-led military exercises
PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative file photo — U.S. Army Green Berets conduct shooting drills at a Mauritanian range during Flintlock 2019, Feb. 15, 2019 in Atar, Mauritania, Feb. 15, 2018. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Steven Lewis via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Forces from Libya's east- and west-based administrations participated in U.S. special forces exercises in the central city of Sirte on Tuesday in the first such joint military event including the former civil war rivals.
Libya has been divided since 2014 when war broke out in the wake of the uprising that overthrew longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi three years earlier.
The fighting culminated in 2019-2020 when military commander Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army, or LNA, based in the eastern city of Benghazi, tried to take the capital Tripoli.
Tensions have cooled considerably since then, and the two sides last week agreed to the first unified budget in more than a decade to determine how to spend the billions of dollars of oil revenues the country earns each year.
The "Flintlock" special operations exercises, run by the United States Africa Command, known as AFRICOM, opened in Sirte on Tuesday including forces from both the LNA and the U.N.-recognised Government of National Unity, which is based in Tripoli.
Haftar's son, Saddam, who serves as the LNA's deputy commander, said in a speech that the exercise "reaffirms Libya’s position as a reliable partner in supporting regional and international peace and security."
AFRICOM said in a statement that forces from more than 30 countries would take part in the exercises, which will also be held in Ivory Coast later in the month.
Italy played a significant role in planning and carrying out Flintlock in Libya, which marked a "historic milestone" and supported "the continued development of a unified Libyan military," the statement said.
(Reporting by Ayman al-Warfali; Writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Alexandra Hudson // REUTERS)
