Libyan pro-Haftar soldiers captured on Niger border freed: army

The army of eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar said on Wednesday it had freed its soldiers who were captured in clashes on the southern border with Niger last month.

The Libyan National Army (LNA), which controls the east and parts of southern Libya, did not say how many soldiers were captured and later released.

The border area between Libya and Niger has seen relatively frequent attacks on Haftar's forces, which often repel them.

Fifteen years after the start of an uprising that toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya remains divided between a UN-recognised government based in Tripoli and an eastern administration backed by Haftar.

The LNA said in a statement it had "succeeded in liberating the soldiers who were captured in terrorist attacks" against three border checkpoints on 31 January.

The LNA blamed "mercenary groups and outlawed terrorist gangs" for the attacks in which three of its soldiers were killed.

Unverified footage circulating on social media had shown men in military garb describing themselves as "fighters and revolutionaries from the south", claiming they had taken control of one of the LNA's border posts.

On Wednesday the LNA posted a video of what it described as a "precise military operation on the southern border" to free the captives, saying it had "killed a number of terrorists and captured others".