National Liberation Army (Libya)

National Liberation Army جيش التحرير الوطني الليبي
Active	March 2011-present
Country	Libya
Allegiance	National Transitional Council
Branch	Army
Size	17,000 by March 24
Part of	Anti-Gaddafi forces
Headquarters	Benghazi
Engagements	2011 Libyan civil war
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief	Suleiman Mahmoud
Chief of Staff	Omar El-Hariri
Notable commanders	Abdul Fatah Younis† Khalifa Belqasim Haftar
Insignia
Identification mark
Aircraft flown
Fighter	MiG-23, MiG-21
Attack helicopter	Mi-25
Utility helicopter	Mi-14

The National Liberation Army (Arabic: جيش التحرير الوطني الليبي jaysh al-taḥrīr al-waṭanī al-lībī), also known as the Free Libya Armed Forces, is a Libyan military organisation affiliated with the National Transitional Council, which was constituted during the 2011 Libyan civil war by defected military members and civilian volunteers, in order to engage in battle against both remaining members of the Libyan Armed Forces and paramilitia loyal to the rule of Muammar Gaddafi. It is currently preparing in portions of Eastern Libya controlled by the Anti-Gaddafi forces for eventual full-on combat in Western Libya against pro-Gaddafi militants. They have battled for control of Benghazi, Misrata, Brega, Ajdabiya, Bin Jawad, and Ras Lanuf amongst other towns and there are claims that there are 8,000 soldiers in Benghazi equipped with a substantial amount of weapons captured from abandoned Libyan army depots, these include AK-47 and FN FAL rifles, RPGs, SPGs, anti-aircraft guns and even some tanks.

The force was formerly named the Free Libyan Army, but it was changed at the end of May 2011 to "help better define the increasingly professional and disciplined military efforts to overcome the Gaddafi regime", according to a statement released by the National Transitional Council. It uses the tricolour flag first adopted by Libya in 1951, which has become emblematic of the Libyan Republic and the revolt against Gaddafi; considering that the flag is the same sign of Libya's independence and freedom from the Italian occupation.

Brigades

No reliable estimate on the total strength of the Army exists. Training camps are being organized in Benghazi, attended by "thousands of men" according to a report of 3 to 6 March.

The opposition force taking Mersa Brega and Ras Lanuf during an advance of 2–4 March was estimated as numbering between 500 and 1,000 men. After being driven back to the outskirts of Benghazi, the Free Libyan Army took the offensive once more on March 25. In a string of victories the rebels retook the cities of Ajdabiya, Brega, Ras Lanuf and Bin Jawad and were advancing to Sirte. However, after being in position for 48 hours, they were forced to withdraw from Bin Jawad and Ras Lanuf again. The current front line is in the region of Brega and Ajdabiya, with additional front lines in Misratah and the Nafusa Mountains. Each soldier has also been given an ID card with photo, name, brigade-name, and their blood type. These ID cards are either in the form of paper in plastic slips or plastic cards.

Some of the Brigades reported on by International journalists are as follows:

• Obaida Ibn Jarrah Brigade - radical Islamist militia implicated in the assassination of National Liberation Army commander-in-chief Abdul Fatah Younis on 28 July 2011
• Omar Mukhtar Brigade - Based in Ajdabiya and numbering 200 men and 10 trucks.
• Ali Hassan al-Jaber Brigade - Based in Al Bayda
• Zawiya Brigade - Based in the Nafusa Mountains
• Shaheed Brigade - Based in and around Misrata
• Black Brigade - Based in and around Misrata
• Swehdi Brigade - Based in and around Misrata
• Faisal Brigade - Based on the outskirts of Zliten
• Arise Brigade - Based on the Misrata - Tripoli Highway

Suppliers

• - Egypt has been reported to be supplying the rebels with mostly small arms such as assault rifles and ammunition.
• - France has acknowledged having sent arms to rebels in the Nafusa Mountains. These are rocket launcher, MILAN anti-tank missiles and guns and ammunition that have been sent.
• - Qatar has been reported to be supplying the rebels with various kinds of weapons including MILAN anti-tank systems and AK-47 rifles (as many as 400 such rifles have been estimated to have reached the rebels). Qatar has also supplied the rebels with camouflage and armored vests.
• - The United States is moving to provide Libyan rebels with $25 million in medical supplies, radios and other aid that would not include weapons as stated by the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
• - The United Kingdom has supplied the rebel force with communication equipments and body armor in order to get the force more organised and define a central command structure.

Equipment

People on a tank in Benghazi

The lethal equipment of the National Liberation Army comes from abandoned Army depots, Libyan military defectors, Egyptian Armed Forces, France and Qatar. It is not exactly known what equipment are currently in use but reports from journalists reveal the following is in use (limited in some cases as in tank and armor because of unavailability of spare parts). As confirmed by "militaryphotos.net" Strickly Photos & Videos Libyan Conflict

Camouflage

Camouflage clothing has been provided by Qatar. Rebels have been seen in Ajdabiya wearing the military fatigues.

Pistols

• TT pistol
• Makarov pistol
• Browning Hi-Power
• Beretta Model 70

Shotguns

• Remington Spartan 310 double-barreled shotgun
• Molot Bekas-M pump-action shotgun
• Beretta AL391 semi-automatic shotgun
• Franchi SPAS-12
• Ithaca 37
• Winchester Model 1912 pump-action shotgun

Submachine guns

• MP 38
• MP 40
• Mat-49 submachine gun
• Škorpion vz. 61
• Sterling Submachine Gun
• Beretta M12

Carbines and assault rifles

• SKS semi-automatic carbine
• AK-47 Assault rifle (Other variants including AKM, Zastava M70,AK-63, AK-74, AK-103, Chinese Type 56, Romanian AIM and Former East German MPi assault rifles)
• FN FAL battle rifle
• FN CAL battle rifle
• MAS-49 rifle
• M14 Rifle
• Heckler & Koch G36
• FN P90
• FN F2000 assault rifle
• Carcano bolt-action battle rifle
• Lee-Enfield bolt-action battle rifle
• Mauser bolt-action battle rifle
• Mosin-Nagant bolt-action battle rifle

Machine guns and autocannons

• RPK light machine gun
• RPD light machine gun
• RP-46 machine gun
• SG-43 Goryunov
• PK general purpose machine gun
• PKT re-purposed as portable machine guns
• Type 67 machine gun
• Uk vz. 59
• Rheinmetall MG 3
• FN MAG general purpose machine gun
• M60 machine gun
• M1919A6 Browning .30 cal machine gun
• M2 Browning .50 cal heavy machine gun
• DShK 12.7 mm heavy machine guns (Mainly mounted on Technicals)
• NSV 12.7 mm heavy machine guns from T-72 tanks (Mainly mounted on Technicals)
• KPV 14.5 mm heavy machine gun mounted on Technicals
• ZPU 14.5 mm anti-aircraft guns (land-based and mounted on Technicals)
• 57 mm AZP S-60
• ZU-23-2 23 mm anti-aircraft autocannons mounted on Technicals
• Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-301 30 mm autocannon Taken off of pro-Gaddafi force planes

Sniper rifles

• Dragunov SVD
• PSL (rifle)
• Truvelo Long Range 7,62x51mm Nato Sniper Rifle captured from the pro-Gaddafi force
• Gepard anti-materiel rifles captured from Gaddafi forces

Rocket propelled and grenade systems

• RPG-7 shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher
• RPG-2 shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher
• RPG-26
• Type 69 RPG shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher
• RB M57 Yugoslavian shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher
• SA-7 9K32 “Strela-2” MANPADs
• 9K11 Malyutka (Sagger) anti-tank missiles
• MILAN anti-tank missiles
• Carl Gustav recoilless rifle
• SPG-9
• B-10 recoilless rifle
• M40 recoilless rifle mounted on jeeps and pickups with roof and wind shield cut off
• Type 63 multiple rocket launcher (Mainly mounted on Technicals)
• 122 mm multiple rocket launcher salvaged from damaged BM-21 Grad then divided into 4 to 6 tubes and mounted on Technicals
• S-5 rocket UB-16-57UMP and UB-32 rocket launchers mounted on Technicals
• Katyusha rocket launcher mounted on Technicals
• AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher
• F1 hand grenade
• RGD-5
• AN M18 Smoke grenade
• M2 mortar
• M1938 mortar
• 122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30)
• 130 mm towed field gun M1954 (M-46)
• 4 x Palmaria (artillery) 155 mm howitzer Italian self-propelled

Vehicles

• T-55 main battle tank
• T-62 main battle tank
• T-72 main battle tank
• Type 59 main battle tank
• 2S1 Gvozdika 122mm self-propelled howitzer
• MT-LBu Armored personnel carrier
• BMP-1 Infantry fighting vehicle
• BMP-2 Infantry fighting vehicle
• BMD-1 Infantry fighting vehicle
• Fiat 6614
• EE-9 Cascavel
• BRDM-2
• ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" lightly armored, self-propelled, radar guided anti-aircraft weapon system SPAAG.
• 2K12 Kub
• 9K33 Osa
• RM-70 multiple rocket launcher
• BM-21 Grad Multiple rocket launcher trucks
• AT-T
• S-125 Neva/Pechora
• Technicals (Armed with M2 Browning, DShK, NSV, KPV, ZPU, ZU-23-2 and 2A28 Grom with or without the turret taken off the BMP-1 )

Aircraft

Main article: Free Libyan Air Force

• MiG-21 Fighter jet aircraft - One MiG-21UM crashed after take-off from Benina airport due to technical malfunction.
• MiG-23 Fighter jet aircraft - one shot down by friendly fire over Benghazi.
• Soko G-2 Ground-attack and reconnaissance
• Mil Mi-2 light armoured utility helicopter
• Mil Mi-14 Anti Submarine Helicopter
• Mil Mi-24 Attack helicopter/Transport helicopter

Note: Both Soko G-2,Mil Mi-2 were captured at Misrata Airport on 24 February 2011.

Ships

• 1 Koni class frigate
  • 212 Al-Hani
• 1 Nanuchka class corvette
  • 416 Tariq Ibn Ziyaad
• 2 Natya class minesweeper