Benghazi— The Libyan National Army (LNA) announced the graduation of the 87th Rapid Intervention Battalion after the completion of a one-year advanced training in Belarus.
The training included advanced courses in counterterrorism, the use of sniper and mortar weapons, and building storming tactics. During the graduation ceremony, a maneuver took place involved the use of live ammunition of all types of weapons, as well as the implementation of parachute landing operations, according to the LNA’s media division platform.
The training comes in line with the Commander-in-Chief of the LNA’s Khalif Haftar’s “Vision 2030” for the development and modernization of the Libyan armed forces which was announced earlier this year. Mr. Haftar appointed last month his son, Lieutenant General Saddam Haftar, as Deputy Commander-in-Chief with the mission of carrying out the Vision 2030 plan.
Libya and the Republic of Belarus have signed agreement for cooperation in the fields of the military training, agriculture, industry and reconstruction.
On 17 February 2025, Field Marshal Kalifa Haftar, the Commander-in-Chief of the LNA, made his first official visit to Belarus during which he met with President Alexander Lukashenko. Both leaders discussed several issues, including enhancing cooperation in the field of air forces and the maintenance of Libyan MiG fighter jets.
The graduation ceremony was attended by an official delegation from the LNA led by the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Land Forces and a number of senior officers. The Belarusian Deputy Minister of Defense of Belarus, Lieutenant General Aleksandr Viktorovich Naumenko also took part in the graduation ceremony.
The news and videos of the graduation of the 87th Rapid Intervention Battalion has been well received by Libyans who are longing for a well-trained and well-disciplined military institution. They see a strong military as a much-needed guarantee of Libya’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, peace and stability. Since 2011, many parts and cities of the country have been controlled by armed groups and militias.
With an area of about 1.8 million square kms, Libya is the fourth-largest country in Africa and the 16th-largest in the world. Libya’s borders total about 6,118 kilometers, including 4,348 kilometers of land borders and a 1,770-kilometer coastline along the Mediterranean Sea.
