Libyan Haftar fighters battle Chad rebels on border: report

Forces loyal to eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar carried out an operation Tuesday against a Chadian armed opposition group along Libya's southern border, media close to Haftar reported.

Special forces of the Tarek ben Ziyad battalion, one of the units loyal to Haftar, carried out a "vast operation... against the mercenaries and Chadian opposition elements present on Libyan territory," the Libya al-Hadath television channel reported.

It said the forces targeted the rebel positions "on the southern border".

One member of the battalion was reportedly killed and the units "destroyed several armoured vehicles".

Several Chadian rebel groups are based in Libya, Sudan and border areas between the countries, including the Front for Alternation and Concord in Chad (FACT).

Chad's veteran ruler Idriss Deby Itno was killed in April during fighting between the army and FACT rebels.

FACT said in a statement that one of its positions was attacked by "the brigade known as Tarek ben Ziyad, supported by Sudanese fighters and flanked by officers from the French army's Barkhane mission".

It said the fighting took place "in Chadian territory".

Plunged into chaos in 2011 when Moamer Kadhafi's regime collapsed, Libya has been divided between rival power centres and torn by bloody conflict involving militias, foreign fighters and jihadist groups.