The Commander of the Joint Security Chamber of Sirte, Brigadier General Saleh Al-Maghrabi stated that the 5 + 5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) will meet on Thursday and Friday in the city of Sirte.
This follows a meeting attended by Chief of Staff of the western-based Army, Major General Mohamed Al-Haddad, and the designated Commander in chief of the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), Lieutenant-General Abdulrazek Al-Nathouri, on Saturday in Sirte. The meeting was the first of its kind between the two parties after a number of positive meetings, which brought together military leaders in the Shwerf region.
Notably, the JMC engaged in rounds of foreign with Turkey and Russia, as part of its efforts to expel foreign forces and mercenaries from the country.
After the meeting, Al-Nathouri said that the meeting “was very cordial and our understanding is faster than what the Libyan people expect. We, the Libyans, will unify the military establishment without foreign interference.”
He stressed that the responsibility of the military institution is to protect the homeland and the constitution, as well as to preserve the institution itself. “We agreed to unify the military institution, soon, without any interference from anyone. We will unite it as its sons,” he noted.
Al-Nathouri indicated that the military institution would continue to distance itself from any interactions between the Libyan people, politicians, and parties.
On Wednesday, violent armed clashes erupted at dawn between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and armed factions in the southwestern city of Sebha.
Medium and heavy weapons were used, causing an exodus from the nearby “Al-Qarda” area, while artillery shells continued to be fired between the two parties randomly. It is not yet clear the extent of the losses caused by the fighting.