The commander of the Libyan National Army says he reached agreements with a U.S. congressional delegation to host the 2027 Flintlock exercise in Libya and establish joint military structures linking the country’s eastern and western forces.
Soldecanarias.net / Adeje
Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar on Wednesday announced a new phase of military cooperation with the United States after hosting a bipartisan delegation of members of the U.S. Congress in Benghazi. According to a statement issued by the Libyan National Army (LNA), the talks focused on strengthening defence cooperation, advancing the unification of Libya’s armed forces, and launching new joint initiatives aimed at reducing the country’s longstanding military fragmentation.
The delegation was led by Republican Congressman Austin Scott and included Democratic Representatives Jimmy Panetta and Salud Carbajal. Also attending the meeting were Jeremy Berndt, Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy to Libya; LNA Chief of Staff Khaled Haftar, the commander’s son; Talal al-Mihoub, chairman of the House of Representatives’ Defence and National Security Committee; and several senior military officials.
According to the statement, one of the central topics was the long-delayed unification of Libya’s military establishment, a key challenge since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The country remains divided between rival administrations in the east and west, each backed by separate military structures and armed groups despite repeated United Nations-led efforts to forge a unified security apparatus.
Haftar’s statement said that cooperation with the United States and the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) had enabled the city of Sirte to host part of the Flintlock 2026 multinational military exercise, presenting it as evidence of growing cooperation between military personnel from different regions of Libya. Building on what he described as the success of that initiative, Haftar said both sides agreed that Libya would host the main phase of Flintlock 2027.
The statement also announced plans to establish a joint military operations room in Sirte bringing together personnel from the Libyan National Army and military units from western Libya. If implemented, the initiative would represent one of the most ambitious attempts at operational coordination between rival military forces since the 2020 ceasefire.
In addition, the discussions reportedly covered the creation of a unified Libyan Air Command and the establishment of a National Centre of Excellence for Air Force training at the Air Academy in Misrata, one of western Libya’s principal military strongholds. The proposed centre would be responsible for training and qualifying Libyan military personnel according to what the statement described as the highest professional standards.
Haftar reiterated that continued dialogue with Washington and international support for military unification are essential to building a professional national army capable of safeguarding Libya’s sovereignty and ensuring long-term stability. The statement concluded by saying that both sides agreed that creating unified state institutions across the security, political and economic sectors remains indispensable for restoring state authority, protecting citizens’ rights and promoting economic development.
U.S. authorities have not yet released a detailed account of the meeting or publicly confirmed the agreements announced by Haftar’s command. The engagement comes amid renewed American efforts to strengthen its diplomatic and security presence in Libya, against a backdrop of regional competition and growing Russian influence in the country’s east.
