El-Sennusi Hamed, a Tabu member of the Constitutional Drafting Assembly (CDA) has contradicted claims from Khalifa Haftar's forces that they are targeting Chadian rebel positions inside Libya.
What is happening in Umm Al-Aranib's "Chinese Company" neighbourhood is a forced displacement of Tabu families," Hamed wrote in a tweet.
The so-called information unit of Khalifa Haftar's militias has said they targeted Chadian rebel groups inside Libyan territory before dropping parachute units near the Chadian border.
Racial harassment and violence are ongoing in the Umm Al-Aranib region where Haftar's forces raided homes, assaulted women and children, and looted cars and money, the CDA member said.
Haftar's military campaign in the south is merely a propaganda show to push his image as a strong military leader devoted to safeguarding Libya's territories, critics say, citing the fact that the main Chadian opposition groups are led by Russia, and Russia is a close ally of Haftar.
Italian press quoted Mohamed Jakou, leader of the Chadian opposition Front for Change and Accord as saying that the ruling military junta in Chad received a green light from the Tripoli-based (GNU) headed by Dbeibah to strike Chadian opposition sites in southern Libya.
Simultaneously, Haftar's spokesman, Ahmed Al-Mismari announced on Friday a large-scale military operation in the south to “secure the state’s borders and resources" and to extend their grip over Libyan territory.
Al-Mismari claimed that the operation comes in response to recent events in the region, which he said were linked to terrorist cells and criminal groups.
