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By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 1 August 2015:
The Libya contingent in the joint border force with Sudan has withdrawn, according to the . . .[restrict]Sudanese.
A Sudanese army spokesman today appeared to indicate that the pullout may have happened a while ago.
When it was announced in 2012, the joint border patrol appeared to be more a diplomatic move by the-then Zeidan government than a major military initiative. The route from Kufra to Sudan and Chad has, since the revolution, been dominated by smugglers, not least Tebus working with fellow Tebus across the border.
It was never clear how many Libyan troops were involved in the joint patrols and no joint command centre was established. Since it was formed, there have been occasional shoot-outs with smugglers on this side of the border.
The Libyan contingent was based in Kufra. In September last year a Sudanese transport plane was seized at Kufra airport. Government sources alleged that it was carrying weapons to Libya Dawn forces in Misrata or Mitga. The Sudanese ambassador was expelled.
However, the head of Kufra’s military council Colonel Suleiman Hamed Hassan, who was also a commander to the joint Libyan-Sudanese Joint border control force, protested that the weapons on board the aircraft were indeed for his men. [/restrict]
