The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said in a statement that its soldiers “deployed on the border strip between Sudan, Egypt, and Libya managed to seize a consignment of weapons, ammunition, and explosives coming from eastern Libya.” Four people, including two Libyans, have been detained, according to the statement.
RSF soldiers were ordered to the Saif al-Barli area on the border triangle after intelligence reports concerning the presence of arms-trading gangs in the area, according to RSF commander Lieutenant-Colonel Ali Ahmed Mahmoud Awajeh. The RSF managed to seize two GMC cars carrying 36 Kalashnikov rifles and two boxes of grenades, in addition to the DShK cannon, an RPG-7 launcher, and a large number of ammunitions of various kinds after clashes between RSF and gangs at an area three kilometers from Saif al-Barli, according to the statement.
Smugglers, arms dealers, and terrorists use Libya’s southern border with Sudan, Chad, and Niger as a transit point. Various armed tribes, including the Tabu and Tuareg, govern the area and collect money, supplies, and fuel in exchange for enabling smugglers safe passage.
Sudan, Libya, Chad, and Niger signed an agreement on June 2, 2018, calling for the deployment of a joint force to monitor borders and combat human trafficking. In this context, Musa al-Koni, Vice-President of the Libyan Presidential Council, visited Khartoum last August and met with the commander of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
