Libya militia detains hundreds of Chadians in Ajdabiya

Libyan rebels sit on top of a pick-up truck west of Ajdabiya on July 19, 2011 [ GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP via Getty Images]

Hundreds of Chadians were detained on the streets of a Libyan town for a ninth day in retaliation for the Chad government’s arrest of four Libyan men on suspicion of poaching endangered animals, local Libyan media reports.

According to the report, at least 400 people were arrested in the city of Ajdabiya by a militia linked to the warlord, Khalifa Haftar.

A security source in Libya told that at least 400 Chadians had since been arrested by the Ajdabiya brigade, led by Ayoub Issa Al-Ferjani, Khalifa Haftar’s son-in-law.

“The campaign is still going on,” the source said. “It can reach a point where ties with Chad will be cut, if anything happens to the four Libyans.”

Chad has been struggling with Sudanese and Libyan poachers who, between 2002 and 2010, killed about 4,000 elephants, according to the UN.

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