Military and security sources in Libya have said that French Special Forces operating in support of renegade General Khalifa Haftar withdrew from Benghazi earlier this week. The anonymous sources said on Wednesday that they had noticed a major decrease in the number of French surveillance drones in the area.
Although the French troops may have been relocated to a US air base near Malta, the sources did not rule out their return at any time. No reason was suggested from the withdrawal.
However, it was said that the move came after Mohamed Ammari, a member of the Libyan unity government, released a press statement saying that France had promised to halt its Benghazi operations after Tripoli complained to the French ambassador about “blatant interference”.
Last month, France revealed that three of its soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed east of Benghazi during an intelligence operation.