The Libyan National Army (LNA) closed its border with Sudan on Tuesday due to ongoing clashes between the army and rapid support forces (special forces) in the neighboring country. This was reported by the Al-Marsad news portal, citing sources in the General Command of the LNA.
"The Libyan army decided to close the border with Sudan and also sent reinforcements to the town of Kufra (in the southeast of the country, near the border with Sudan - TASS), mobilizing its forces in the region," the source said.
The state border between the countries is 382 km long and Libya's territory in this region is used by armed groups and criminal gangs engaged in smuggling and human trafficking. The border crossing is under the control of the LNA.
The situation in Sudan has been exacerbated by disagreements between army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also leads the Sovereignty Council, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemitte), the head of the rapid support force (special forces), who is his deputy in this body. The main points of contention between the two militaries have been over the timing and method of forming a unified Sudanese Armed Forces and over whether the commander-in-chief should be a professional soldier, as advocated by al-Burhan, or an elected civilian president, as insisted upon by Dagalo. On April 15, clashes broke out between the two mentioned entities near the military base in the city of Merowe and Khartoum. According to the Ministry of health, more than 600 people have been killed in the country since the start of the fighting. In turn, the World Health Organization reported that 420 people were killed in the conflict and more than 3.7 thousand were injured.
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Based on materials from TASS