Three pro-Haftar fighters killed on Libya's border with Niger

Clashes on the Libya–Niger border killed three soldiers from eastern commander Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army.

1 min read

03 February, 2026

A group of migrant men, mainly from Niger and Nigeria, have a rest next to pick up vehicles, on January 22, 2019 during a journey across the Air dessert, northern Niger, towards the Libyan border post of Gatrone.

Three Libyan soldiers loyal to Khalifa Haftar were killed in clashes on the Libya–Niger border, according to the Libyan National Army. [Getty]

Three Libyan soldiers from the army of eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar were killed in clashes on the border with Niger, the force said Monday.

Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), which controls the east and parts of southern Libya, "deplores the death of three soldiers" during a "cowardly attack by mercenary groups and outlawed terrorist gangs in the early hours of Saturday January 31".

"Three simultaneous attacks" were launched against three checkpoints on the border between the two countries, the LNA statement said.

Several other fighters were "wounded and a number captured", according to a statement posted on Facebook by the LNA command, which said it was determined to free them from the "gangs that fled to Niger".

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

Unverified footage circulated on social media on Saturday showed men in military garb describing themselves as "fighters and revolutionaries from the south", claiming they had taken control of one of the border posts.

Libya remains divided between a UN-backed government based in Tripoli and an eastern administration backed by Haftar.