Non, monsieur Arfi, l'opération Harmattan n'a pas été déclenchée sur un mensonge

Dans leur livre « Avec les compliments du Guide » paru aux Edition Fayard, Fabrice Arfi et Karl Laske – journalistes de Médiapart – tentent d’exposer les relations ambiguës entre Nicolas Sarkozy et la Libye de Mouammar Kadhafi. Je ne commenterai pas le dossier financement de campagne pour lequel je n’ai pas d’éléments pour contredire ou confirmer leurs déclarations. Je vais par contre évoquer la campagne militaire en Libye de 2011 et le prétendu postulat du « mensonge » sur les motifs de cette guerre.

An Iranian made Mohajer-2 UAV in Libyan warlord hands

On Oct. 5, 2017, Maghreb Confidentiel — a professional journal covering Africa’s intelligence services — revealed that the Libyan National Army has obtained Iranian-made Mohajer-2 drones.

War Is Boring’s own sources in Libya confirmed the claim. A photo provided by LNA militants shows one of the Iranian UAVs at an unspecified air base.

The Libyan engineer in the picture – his face obscured for security reasons – works with the LNA. But the provenance of the drone is unclear.

There are two sources plausible sources. Iran and Sudan.

Someone Gave Iranian-Made Drones to Libya’s Tobruk Regime

My publication for October 2017

In October issue (No. 355) of Air Force Monthly magazines, I published my fourth contribution to the "Flashpoint" series of short reports : "Tough times for Chadian Air Force", the reborn of Chadian Air Force and its involvement in the war against Boko Haram until a storm damaged most of CAF fleet last July.

Iraq got F-16s in summer 2015 and immediately started bombing ISIS

On Sept. 5, 2017,  Iraqi air force major Noor Faleh Al Khuzai died in the crash of his F-16 fighter during a training flight in Arizona. This is the second F-16IQ the Iraqi air force has lost in Arizona. On June 25, 2015, F-16C serial number 1609 crashed, killing its pilot Brig. Gen. Rafid Mohammad Hassan.

In January 2011, Iraq signed a contract worth $3 billion for 18 F-16C/D Block 52 fighters — 12 single-seat F-16Cs and six two-seat F-16Ds — for delivery between 2014 and 2015.

In March 2012, the first Iraqi F-16 pilot graduated from Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training in the United States. In October that year, Iraq ordered 18 more F-16s.

On May 2, 2014, the first Iraqi F-16IQ — F-16D serial number 1601 — made its maiden flight at Forth Worth, Texas, followed by official delivery to Iraq on June 5. The first two aircraft, 1601 and 1602, went to Tucson International Airport, home of the U.S. Air National Guard’s 162nd Wing, which trains Iraqi pilots.

Iraq Got F-16s in Summer 2015 and Immediately Started Bombing ISIS - The 9th Fighter Squadron wasted no time

My publication in September 2017

En septembre, je contribue au n°131 du magazine "Défense & Sécurité International" avec un article sur les "Opérations aériennes/contre-aériennes françaises contre la Libye dans les années 80" au Tchad et en Méditerranée.

In September, I have contributed to Issue No. 131 of "Défense & Sécurité International" magazine with an article about the "French aerial operations against Libya in the 1980s" in Chad and the Mediterranean sea.

Islamic State Surges in Libya

But Islamist attacks probably won't compell Libyan rivals to work together

On Aug. 23, 2017, nine soldiers from the Libyan National Army’s 131st Brigade — including its commander Ali Al Ghadbane — were killed at a checkpoint near Al Fugha between Sabha and Zillah in southwestern Libya. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. The last attack by the terrorist group took place in May 2017, targeting a convoy of the Misrata militia’s 3rd Force. Since the end of August 2017, ISIS has stepped up its activity in the Sirte region.

Islamic State Surges in Libya

Il y a un siècle disparaissait Georges Guynemer

Il y a un siècle disparaissait Georges Guynemer à bord de son SPAD XIII le S504.

       

My publication for summer 2017

This summer, two of my stories are published in issue 20 of The Aviation Historian magazine and september issue of Air Forces Monthly. First one is the story of the Libyan Tu-22s "Blinder" engaged in Chad against Chadian and French written in collaboration with my colleague Tom Cooper. Two of them were lost during the air raids against N'Djamena in 1986 and 1987. The second article (Flaspoint) establishes an assessment of the air war in Yemen since March 2015.

Libyan National Army Air Force MiG shot down over Derna

The Libyan National Army Air Force has lost a new aircraft over Derna today, shot down by Derna Mujahidine Shura Council (DMSC) militants. The pilot, Adel Al-Jihani, and the co-pilot, Wael Al-Wakwak, ejected but Al-Jihani died from his wounds shortly after it was detained by DMSC. According to LNA spokesman, the aircraft was a MiG-21, but other LNA sources claimed it was a MiG-23. The fact that the crew took off from Tobruk airbase would confirm that it would indeed be one of the three remained MiG-21UMs of the fleet (serial number 073, 076 or 117).

Edit 30 July 2017 : It seems that the pilot, Adel Al-Jihani was a MiG-23 pilot and has been executed in retaliation of previous airstrike performed by him ... The lost aircraft is therfore MiG-23UB '8008'

MiG 23 shot down by MSCD in al Hamar, south #Derna, reportedly by SA18 #missile #Libya video of wreckage cannot be verified pic.twitter.com/G2M7pYh82Z

— Viraj Pattni (@intlsec) 29 juillet 2017

Video of the supposed crash site

My publication in July 2017

En juillet, je contribue au n°130 du magazine "Défense & Sécurité International" avec un article sur la "guerre aérienne face à l'Etat Islamique en Irak et en Syrie" depuis 2014.

In July, I have contributed to Issue No. 130 of "Défense & Sécurité International" magazine with an article about the "Air War against Islamic Sates in Iraq and Syria" since 2014.

Rapport du Groupe d'Experts du Conseil de Sécurité des Nations-Unies sur la Libye

Mon travail sur la crise libyenne depuis un an confirmé par les Experts du Conseil de Sécurité des Nations-Unies sur la Libye

Version en français de l'article publié sur War Is Boring le 14 juin 2017

Le 9 juin 2017, le Groupe d’Experts des Nations Unies créé à la suite de la résolution 1973 sur la Libye a publié son rapport final sur son travail pour le Conseil de Sécurité. Ce document, long de près de 300 pages, inclus notamment des détails sur l’évolution politique et la sécuritaire du pays, la violation des droits de l’homme, la violation de l’embargo sur les armes, la prévention des exportations illicites de pétrole brut, le détournement de fonds publics et le financement des groupes armés.

Une grande partie du chapitre concernant la violation de l’embargo sur les armes, soit une trentaine de pages, a mentionné, réutilisé et/ou confirmé mes recherches et analyses publiées depuis un an sur plusieurs médias spécialisés (War Is Boring, Middle East Eye et le magazine DSI).

United Nations Panel of Experts report for Libya used or confirmed my work and analyzes done since last year

On 9 June 2017, United Nations Panel of Experts published its latest report about Libya. Parts of this document (18 pages on 299) used or confirmed my work done for War Is Boring and Défense et Sécurité Internationale magazine.

Egypt Has Joined the Air War in Libya

On May 26, 2017, armed men traveling in pickup trucks gunned down 28 Coptic Christians and wounded 26 as the Christians were on their way to visit a monastery in Egypt’s Minya province. Islamic State has claimed its responsibility for the attack. That same evening, Egypt announced that its air force had carried out six air raids on ISIS camps near the Libyan city of Derna. Cairo suspects that the Derna Mujahideen Shura Council, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated coalition of Islamist militias that formed in December 2014, supported the murders.

The strikes involved F-16C/D Block 52s covered by at least two Rafales. Weirdly, the Egyptian government posted a video supposed illustrating the operation, but the footage actually depicts a later strike on the city of Hun.

Egypt Has Joined the Air War in Libya - The skies are getting crowded

My publication in June 2017

In June Issue of Air Force Monthly magazines, I published the second contribution to my new series of monthly reports named the "Flashpoint" : "Wolves in sheep's clothing", the concept of transforming Antonov transports into auxiliary bombers starting in 1967 in the Indian Air Force and used recently in the battle of Mosul by Iraqi AIr Force.

How Iraq Makes Combat Pilots

During the occupation that followed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, most Iraqi combat aircraft — MiG-23s, MiG-25s and Su-25s — were discovered by coalition forces in poor condition on various air bases, while others were discovered buried outside their bases or in nearby towns and villages where they had been abandoned.

Most IrAF aircraft were destroyed during and after the invasion, and any remaining materiel was discarded in the immediate aftermath of the war. No aircraft acquired during the era of Saddam Hussein would be retained in service by the new Iraqi air arms.

How Iraq Makes Combat Pilots