Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Pakistan has reached a deal worth over $4 billion to sell military equipment to the Libyan National Army, four Pakistani officials said, despite a U.N. arms embargo on the fractured North African country.
The deal, one of Pakistan’s largest-ever weapons sales, was finalised after a meeting last week between Pakistan military chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Saddam Khalifa Haftar, deputy commander-in-chief of the LNA, in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, said the four officials, said a Reuters report.
Any arms agreement with the LNA is likely to face scrutiny given Libya’s long-running instability following a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi and split the country between rival authorities.
In the list of purchases are 16 JF-17 fighter jets, a multi-role combat aircraft that has been jointly developed by Pakistan and China, and 12 Super Mushak trainer aircraft, used for basic pilot training. The deal included the sale of equipment for land, sea and air, spread over 2-1/2 years. Two of the officials said the deal was valued at more than $4 billion, while the other two said it amounted to $4.6 billion.
Libya has been subject to a U.N. arms embargo since 2011, requiring approval from the U.N. for transfers of weapons and related material.
A panel of experts said in a December 2024 report to the U.N. that the arms embargo on Libya remained “ineffective”. The panel said some foreign states had become increasingly open about providing military training and assistance to forces in both eastern and western Libya despite the restrictions.