A well-informed source in southern Libya has confirmed to Libya Herald that the self-proclaimed Southern Liberation Operations Room (SLOR) has carried out an attack on Arandega checkpoint south of the Tajerhi oasis, which is south of Gatrun. The checkpoint is ostensibly under the control of Hafter's forces.
Gatrun is a village in the Murzuq District in southern Libya on the main road to Chad and Niger and 310 kilometres from the Niger checkpoint at Al-Toum (Al-Tum/ Tummo/ Tumu/ Tomu).
The SLOR reported on its official Facebook page that it had taken some of Hafter’s LNA/affiliated soldiers as prisoners. It also claimed it is heading north towards the Wigh airbase.
However, the source refuted this, saying they had ‘hit and run’ the Arandega checkpoint and headed off south again.
The source said ‘‘the SLOR is leading a gorilla-warfare to undermine LNA positions in the desert terrains and the border areas. The SLOR remains of modest military capabilities that could not ultimately displace the LNA from the entire south.
But the group's existence from its operating bases in northern Niger poses acute security risk to the LNA, keeping the latter on high-alert mode 24/7.
The group's existence also shatters the LNA's narrative of "effective control" over Fezzan and its border areas’’, the source added.
Several clashes between the two sides - the 31 January attack on Al-Toum
It will be recalled that on 31 January there was an attack on the Al Toum border security checkpoint, and other southern border posts, including Wadi Bughrara and El Salvador, by militias operating in the southern Libyan border area, resulting in the alleged deaths of three pro Hafter soldiers.
In video clips posted by the group on social media, the militia identified itself as the "Sons and Revolutionaries of the Libyan South" has announced the capture of the strategic Al-Toum border crossing.
In its video statement, the militia group accused Hafter’s General Command in Eastern Libya of exploiting southern resources and fuelling ongoing regional instability. The group had claimed the clashes had left approximately 25 dead and several military vehicles destroyed. The video showed several soldiers prostrate on the ground as the statement was being videoed.
Hafter’s LAAF Liberates Soldiers Kidnapped at Al-Toum Border