How Emirati/Egyptian air power turned Haftar's Libyan oil ports disaster to victory

On 14 March, General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army launched a counterattack against the fighters of the Saraya Defend Benghazi and the Petroleum Facilities Guard coalition, which had managed to take most of the coastal cities near the oil terminals 10 days earlier.

This lightning counter-offensive has left observers skeptical. How could an army have lost an entire region in a few days - and then recovered it so quickly?

How Emirati air power turned Haftar's Libyan oil ports disaster to victory

Libyan MiG-23ML has dropped two RBK-250s cluster bombs in Oil Crescend area today

Since the seize of oil terminal headquarters of the Oil Crescent between Saturday and Monday and Sidra and Ras Lanuf oil terminal towns from the central region’s Petroleum Facilities Guards (PFG), the Libyan National Army Air Force (LNA/AF) engaged its fighter jets for armed reconnaissance sortie in support of the ground forces to secure the oil area. This morning, the MiG-23ML serial '26453' was engaged in such missions in Brega, Ras Lanuf, Sidra and south of the ground forces after the port of Sidra. The aircraft was loaded with two SAMP French made bombs and two RBK-250s cluster bombs. Such munition were already used on Mi-8Ts the last weekend and on MiG-21s in Mid-August.