South African police have detained 95 Libyan nationals for questioning on suspicion of receiving training at a secret military camp.
Police said on Friday that they had carried out a morning raid on the alleged military camp, located at a farm in White River in Mpumalanga province in the north of the country.
Police said they found military tents, licenced firearms and other military equipment. They added that the operation to arrest the Libyans and close down the camp began two days ago. Television footage from the scene showed a heavy police presence outside the suspected camp, which included green military-style tents and sandbags.
National police spokeswoman Athlenda Mathe said in a post on X that the Libyans said they were entering the country on study visas to train as security guards, but police investigations suggested they had received military training.
Libyan Foreign Ministry of the Government of National Unity in Tripoli categorically denied that the 95 Libyans arrested in South Africa were affiliated with the government and its institutions, adding that it had tasked the military prosecutor and the Libyan embassy in South Africa to communicate with the relevant authorities in Johannesburg to follow up on the circumstances of the case.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the parallel government in eastern Libya, Abdul Hadi Al-Huweij, announced on Friday that legal support would be provided to Libyans detained in South Africa. He told Sky News Arabia that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was following up on the situation of the detained Libyans and would provide them with legal support.
