The French intelligence website Africa Intelligence revealed the repercussions of the fall of the Assad regime in Syria on the close relations between the Haftar and Assad families, and the negative consequences of this on the interests of Khalifa Haftar, who was shocked after the sudden fall of the Syrian regime.
The relationship between the Haftar and Assad families was based on a close alliance that relied heavily on their mutual friendship with Russia, and this alliance reached its peak with a secret visit by Maher Al-Assad, the brother of former Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, to Saddam Khalifa Haftar in September 2022.
The two parties also cooperated in training Haftar forces' pilots in Syria, which was confirmed by the death of a Libyan pilot during training in December 2022.
Hours after the fall of the regime in Damascus, a plane belonging to the “Cham Wings” company arrived in Benghazi carrying Syrian officers, and Maher Al-Assad may have been among the passengers.
The alliance between Assad and Haftar was running parallel to cooperation with Russia, which used Syria and Libya as platforms for the transit of military equipment to the African Sahel region. The fall of Assad may prompt Moscow to review its strategy in the region, after Russian ships used to pass through the port of Tartus and stop in the port of Tobruk, where they unloaded their military equipment and were picked up by the African Corps forces and transported by land to neighboring countries.
After the resumption of military operations against the Syrian regime, the training program for Haftar’s Libyan pilots in Syria was disrupted, and Haftar’s forces lost two L-39 Albatros military training aircraft after the Syrian opposition seized Al-Nayrab airbase on December 2.
In addition, “Cham Wings” company, linked to the Assad family, continued to operate regular flights between Damascus and Benghazi until last October, despite being placed on the European Union sanctions list, as the company is accused of transporting mercenaries, drug trafficking, and smuggling immigrants between Syria and eastern Libya.
