The
Libyan Armed Forces constitute the state defence organisation of Libya. They consist of the Libyan Army, Libyan Air Force and the Libyan Navy with other services which include the People's Militia. The total number of Libyan personnel was estimated at 119,000, though the 2011 Libyan uprising has sliced the military's numbers. There is no separate defence ministry; all defence activities are centralised under the presidency. Arms production is limited, due to extensive imports from the Soviet Union, and manufacturers are state-owned. Colonel
Abu-Bakr Yunis Jaber is the chief of the staff of the military.
The roots of the contemporary Libyan armed forces can be traced to the Libyan Arab Force (popularly known as the Sanusi Army) of World War II. Shortly after Italy entered the war, a number of Libyan leaders living in exile in Egypt called on their compatriots to organise themselves into military units and join the British in the war against the Axis powers. Five battalions, which were initially designed for guerrilla warfare in the Al Jabal al Akhdar region of Cyrenaica, were established under British command. Because the high mobility of the desert campaigns required a considerable degree of technical and mechanical expertise, the Libyan forces were used primarily as auxiliaries, guarding military installations and prisoners. One battalion, however, participated in the fighting at Tobruk.
After Britain succeeded in occupying the Libyan territories, the need for the British-trained and equipped Sanusi troops appeared to be over. The Sanusi Army was reluctant to disband, however, and the majority of its members arranged to be transferred to the local police force in Cyrenaica under the British military administration. When Libya gained its independence in 1951, veterans of the original Sanusi Army formed the nucleus of the Royal Libyan Army. British Army troops, part of Middle East Command and comprising 25th Armoured Brigade and briefly 10th Armoured Division, were still present after independence and stayed in Libya until at least 1957.
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Topic: Libya (Read 3277 times)