It was, RFI reported, the second strike against General Command-affiliated forces in the Libyan desert within 12 days. United Nations experts have for several years documented what they describe as systematic cross-border smuggling facilitated by or connected to Russian paramilitary forces in southern Libya. The twin incidents have sharpened calls among Western governments and UN monitors for greater transparency around foreign military activities in southern Libya. The deaths of two Russian pilots near a Haftar-aligned base in the Libyan desert make that position increasingly difficult to sustain. And for the communities of southern Libya — chronically marginalised, fuel-starved, caught between armed factions — the violence offers little prospect of relief.

Source: Libya Today February 15, 2026 10:15 UTC