An offensive by a newly formed rebel group is challenging Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s control over south-western Libya, a region strategically important for cross-border trade routes and energy resources.
Haftar’s control of Fezzan, a vast desert region in south-western Libya, faces an unprecedented challenge with the emergence of the Southern Liberation Operations Chamber (SLOOC).
On July 12, the armed group, led by Mohamed Wardougou, claimed responsibility for an attack on a Libyan National Army (LNA) airbase near Al-Wigh, close to the borders with Niger and Chad.
According to images released by the rebels, several military positions were set ablaze and about fifteen soldiers were taken prisoner, demonstrating an unexpected operational capability in an area
previously considered firmly controlled by Benghazi’s forces.
Founded in January 2026, the COLS is led by Wardougou, a prominent figure from the Toubou community, which is established on both sides of the borders between Libya, Niger, and Chad.
This ethnic group played an active role in the 2011 uprising against Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.
The rebel leader claims to have launched a “revolution in the South” to end what he calls a “new dictatorship” imposed by Khalifa Haftar and his entourage. He also accuses the authorities in the east of the country of plundering Fezzan’s resources, imposing taxes on local populations, and personalising their power through the omnipresence of portraits of the marshal and his sons in the towns under their control.
This protest comes at a time when Khalifa Haftar appeared to have consolidated his hold on Fezzan following the offensives launched by the Libyan National Army (LNA) starting in the summer of 2024.
Long dominated by Arab, Toubou, and Tuareg tribal militias, this strategic region contains significant hydrocarbon deposits and holds several major smuggling routes for fuel, weapons, drugs, and migrants linking Libya to the Sahel.
A deterioration in security could therefore have repercussions beyond Libya’s borders, particularly in the northern regions of Niger and Chad.
For several experts, this rebellion is primarily a political setback for the Haftar clan.
“The fact that the Haftar clan failed to put an end to this rebellion undermines the narrative that it firmly controls the South,” says Wolfram Lacher, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
The expert believes it is likely that the group receives support from the Tripoli authorities, particularly from networks linked to Deputy Defense Minister Abdul Salam Al-Zoubi.
This analysis is shared by Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya specialist at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), who mentions financial and logistical assistance from the rival western government.
Mohamed Wardougou, however, rejects these accusations, asserting that his movement receives no external support and recovers some of its weaponry from LNA positions.
The Benghazi authorities have not officially responded to the COLS’s claims. Nevertheless, on July 8, the LNA announced the discovery of a large arms cache attributed to the rebel group, including
approximately 1,000 heavy machine guns and more than 800 rocket launchers.
Despite this communication, the emergence of this new insurrection underlines the persistence of security fragilities in southern Libya, where tribal rivalries, economic stakes and competition between the two rival powers continue to fuel instability in the country.
MK/AK/Sf/fss/as/APA