Algeria warns of 'new Somalia' if Libyan tribes armed

ALGIERS, Algeria

The Algerian army on Thursday warned that if Libyan tribes are armed during the country’s current crisis, this could turn Libya into a "new Somalia."

"The new situation today on the ground [in Libya] is more dangerous than anyone could imagine, and the repercussions of a proxy war planned by some parties to be implemented in Libya would have disastrous consequences on countries of the region," Algeria’s Army Magazine said in its August issue.

The magazine reiterated a warning by Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune that Libya could become a "new Somalia," referring to the 1991 civil war in the Horn of Africa country.

The magazine stressed the importance of reaching a political solution via dialogue between Libya’s warring parties.

In mid-July, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with a group of Libyan tribesmen who reportedly said they mandated the Egyptian military to intervene in Libya to “protect Libya’s sovereignty.”

Sisi told the tribesmen that Egypt would "not stand aside" in the face of increasing military mobilization near the city of Sirte in northern Libya.

Al-Sisi's call to arm the Libyan tribes in favor of warlord Khalifa Haftar against Libya’s UN-recognized government drew widespread criticism inside Libya.

Since April 2019, Haftar's illegitimate forces have launched attacks on the Libyan capital of Tripoli and other parts of northwestern Libya, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths, including civilian women and children.

But the Libyan government has recently achieved significant victories, pushing Haftar's forces out of Tripoli and the strategic city of Tarhuna.

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara