Libya | Pakistan

The Libyan army’s chief of staff, Mohammed Ali Ahmed Al-Haddad, died in a plane crash on Tuesday after leaving Turkiye’s capital Ankara as well as four others that were on the jet as well. “This followed a tragic and painful incident while they were returning from an official trip from the Turkish city of Ankara. This grave loss is a great loss for the nation, for the military institution, and for all the people,” Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah said in a statement. According to the Washington DC-based Stimson Centre, Libya has effectively split into two virtual quasi-states since 2014. The west is ruled by the Government of National Unity (GNU), of which Dbeibah is the prime minister, while the east is run by Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar’s Libyan Armed Forces. Dbeibah said the commander of Libya’s ground forces, the director of its military manufacturing authority, an adviser to the chief of staff, and a photographer from the chief of staff’s office were also on the aircraft. Turkish Interi...

Islamabad - Pakistan has reached an agreement to supply conventional arms and military equipment to Libya, offi-cials said, describing it as one of the largest defense export deals concluded by the country in recent years.

ISLAMABAD - Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, NI (M), HJ, COAS & CDF, who is on a official visit to Libya, called on Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar, Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces and Lieutenant General Saddam Khalifa Haftar, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces.

Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir has undertaken an official visit to Libya, where Pakistan and Libya agreed to strengthen defence cooperation at the military leadership level.

Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir has reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening defence ties with Libya, the military’s media wing said on Thursday. In a statement, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the field marshal was currently on an official visit to Libya, where he called on the Libyan Armed Forces’ commander in chief, Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar, and deputy commander in chief, Lieutenant General Saddam Khalifa Haftar. “On arrival, the field marshal was accorded a guard of honour by a smartly turned-out contingent of the Libyan Armed Forces,” the ISPR said. In a meeting with the Libyan Armed Forces’ commander in chief, CDF Field Marshal Munir reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening defence ties with Libya, “based on shared interests”, it said. It added that during the meeting, the two discussed matters of mutual interest, regional security dynamics, and avenues for enhancing bilateral defence and military-to-military ...

The United Nations’ migration agency on Tuesday said that 18 people were killed when a wooden vessel carrying dozens of migrants capsized off the coast of Libya on Tuesday, while 64 people — including 12 Pakistanis — were rescued. The vessel “capsized only a few hours into its journey due to high waves”, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said in a statement, adding that the accident had occurred off the coast of Surman, Libya. “Among the survivors are 29 Sudanese men, one Sudanese woman, and one Sudanese child; 18 Bangladeshi men; 12 Pakistani men; and three Somali men,” it said. No information was yet available about the nationalities of those who died. “This latest shipwreck is a stark reminder of the grave dangers faced by people undertaking perilous sea journeys in search of safety and opportunity,” the IOM said. It said the central Mediterranean route from northern Africa across to Europe remained “one of the world’s deadliest migration corridors”. The agency said its Missing Migrants Pr...

At least 18 migrants died in a shipwreck off the city of Tobruk in eastern Libya over the weekend, and 50 are still missing, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday, citing reports. Ten survivors have been accounted for so far, the IOM said. Tobruk is a coastal city near the border with Egypt. Since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in a Nato-backed uprising in 2011, Libya has become a transit country for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe across the desert and over the Mediterranean. “This latest tragedy is a stark reminder of the deadly risks people are forced to take in search of safety and opportunity. Libya remains a major transit point for migrants and refugees, many of whom face exploitation, abuse, and life-threatening journeys,” the IOM said. Last month, at least 60 migrants were feared dead after a pair of shipwrecks off the coast of Libya. The first ship went down on June 12 near a Libyan port in Tripoli, with 21 people, including women and children, reported m...

Libya’s Tripoli-based government on denied Wednesday reports of a deal with Washington to welcome migrants expelled from the United States It also reaffirmed its refusal of any permanent resettlement of foreigners in the North African country. US media, including CNN, reported in early May that US President Donald Trump’s administration planned to send migrants to […]

Two more bodies of Pakistan nationals who lost their lives in a tragic boat accident off the eastern coast of Libya, arrived at Lahore Airport on Sunday, according to the Associated Press of Pakistan. The incident occurred during the night between April 12 and 13, when a migrant boat capsized near Libya’s eastern shoreline. The accident was the latest in a series of mishaps over the past few years in which hundreds of Pakistanis were killed in the Medi­ter­ranean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean while trying to reach Europe from Africa. The victims were identified as Sufyan and Nadeem Ahmed, residents of Gujranwala, APP reported. State Minister for Public Affairs Rana Mubashir Hussain and Member Punjab Assembly Mian Imran Javed received the bodies at the Lahore Airport cargo department. Later, the bodies were handed over to the grieving families. Prayers were also offered for the departed souls. Speaking on the occasion, Hussain expressed deep sorrow and grief and expressed solidarity with the bereaved families. ...