Early May in Libya was marked by the intensification of Libyan National Army (LNA) military operations and airstrikes against the Eastern city of Derna. According to media reports, LNA units advanced on villages four kilometers from Derna, targeting the remaining bastions of opposition which have thus far managed to prevent the LNA from seizing the city. This renewed intensity follows declarations by Haftar --upon his return to Libya in late April after his mysterious illness -- that the alleged peace process with the Derna Protection Force (DPF), the recently renamed Derna Mujahideen Shura Council (DMSC), had failed. According to Chatham House analyst Tim Eaton, quoted in the National on 20 May, this indicates Haftar’s will to reassert his control over Eastern Libya by force. As a matter of fact, a military victory could help reaffirm his power following his recent absence and quash the rumours regarding the state of his health. In an article published on 16 May by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Jalel Harchaoui analyses the current dynamics of Haftar’s strategy and the impact it could have on the different factions that compose the Libyan landscape.
Haftar’s Libyan National Army intensifies strikes on Derna