The North Africa Journal
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) has announced that Libya, long divided between rival political and military factions, will host a key segment of next year’s Flintlock 2026 military exercise, its premier annual special operations training event. The 2026 iteration, known as Flintlock 26, will take place near the central city of Sirte, symbolically located along the 2020 ceasefire line that ended Libya’s second civil war.
This surprise move marks the first time since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 that military representatives from both eastern and western Libya will train together under U.S. supervision, a move Washington hopes can foster cooperation and strengthen efforts to unify the country’s fragmented armed forces.
AFRICOM’s deputy commander, Lt. Gen. John Brennan, framed the decision as a milestone in bilateral security cooperation. “Flintlock isn’t just about joint drills—it’s about overcoming divisions, building capacity, and supporting Libya’s sovereign right to determine its future,” Brennan said during a recent visit to Tripoli and Sirte.
The joint participation of Libya’s rival forces, he added, “marks a major step forward” toward integration and national reconciliation. Italy’s Special Operations Command is expected to support the Libya-based component, coordinating alongside partner operations in Mauritania and Côte d’Ivoire.
Balancing Rivalries
The American initiative reflects a broader recalibration in U.S. and allied policy toward Libya. For years, Washington largely backed the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity. Now, the Pentagon is engaging both sides—including the Libyan National Army (LNA) under Gen. Khalifa Haftar, who controls most of the country’s east and maintains ties to Russia.
This dual-track outreach aims to blunt Moscow’s influence within Haftar’s ranks while empowering Libyan forces to confront violent extremist groups in remote southern zones still vulnerable to jihadist movements.
Context and Diplomacy
The exercise announcement follows modifications to the United Nations arms embargo in early 2025, allowing technical assistance and military training to all recognized Libyan security entities as part of reunification efforts.
U.S. officials say the growing collaboration also dovetails with broader economic goals. Envoy Jeremy Berndt, chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Libya, emphasized that stability and military unification are prerequisites for reopening investment channels in the energy and infrastructure sectors.
Strategic Stakes
Placing Flintlock exercises in Libya underscores Washington’s intent to reassert its presence in North Africa amid intensifying competition with Russia and China across the Mediterranean. U.S. naval visits, including the USS Mount Whitney’s stop earlier this year in Tripoli and Benghazi, support that strategic messaging.
While the move carries risks—especially given ongoing political deadlock and fragile ceasefire conditions—the US hopes that Flintlock 2026 may be one of the few tools left for it to counter the influence of China and Russia.
***************
Flintlock 26: Libya’s Inclusion
Opens a Window for Reform
Frank Talbot
On October 14, AFRICOM Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. John Brennan announced Libya’s participation in Exercise Flintlock next spring. Brennan commented that “this exercise isn’t just about military training; it’s about overcoming divisions, building capacity, and supporting Libya’s sovereign right to determine its own future.”
Libya’s participation in Flintlock 26 can promote unification within its fragmented security sector, but it also creates an opening to press for reforms before the training begins. The question is whether the United States and its partners will use this leverage to promote a more accountable Libyan security sector.
Flintlock’s Significance
Flintlock is AFRICOM’s premier annual special operations exercise. Since 2005, it has brought together forces from more than 30 African and Western nations for counter-terrorism and crisis-response training, ranging from tactical drills to command-post operations.
Past iterations have included between 500 and 1,300 participants. What makes 2026 different is Libya. Units from both east and west will train together near Sirte, marking the first time Libyan forces have joined Flintlock and the first time a spoke will take place on Libyan soil.
That change became possible after the UN Security Council’s January 2025 adoption of Resolution 2769, which exempted technical assistance and training for Libyan security forces from the arms embargo.
The exemption applied specifically to efforts that promote military reunification. In practice, it opened the way for cooperation that had been blocked for more than a decade and created space for Libya’s fragmented forces to re-engage with international partners on more professional terms.
A Problematic Partner
Armed groups aligned with both the Government of National Unity and the Libyan National Army have been implicated in unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearances.
The State Department’s 2024 Human Rights Report on Libya documents systematic abuses across the country. The UN Panel of Experts reported in December 2024 that at least five armed groups committed serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, targeting civilians, journalists, and activists. UN investigations describe impunity as the norm rather than the exception.
Condition the Invitation
Libya’s participation in Flintlock should be treated as a moment to set expectations, not as a symbolic gesture. Training access, exposure to partners, and renewed legitimacy can be powerful incentives, but they should come with a clear understanding that participants are expected to meet basic professional and ethical standards.
This means ensuring that units understand the laws of armed conflict, adhere to civilian-protection norms, and maintain internal mechanisms for oversight and reporting. Even modest steps toward transparency would signal that reform is more than rhetoric.
These expectations only matter if they are reinforced.
Units that join international exercises should demonstrate a willingness to investigate credible allegations of abuse and to cooperate with monitors who track progress over time.
Participation should reflect not only military readiness but also an institutional commitment to lawful conduct and accountability. Approached this way, Flintlock can serve as a testing ground for a more disciplined and unified security culture, one that aligns Libya’s forces with the standards its partners already practice.
At the same time, Flintlock can help advance the broader goal of military unification. Mixed planning cells, shared operational standards, and joint drills near Sirte can help align procedures and command structures across Libya’s divided forces.
Transparency and external accountability make this process stronger, not weaker, by grounding cooperation in shared principles rather than convenience.
Conclusion
Flintlock 26 is more than a military exercise; it is a test of U.S. strategic intent in Libya. By conditioning participation on accountability, Washington and its partners can help shape a more professional, rights-respecting security culture while advancing the long-delayed goal of institutional reunification.
The credibility of this approach will rest not on the scale of training but on whether it produces measurable behavioral change among Libyan forces. Flintlock offers a platform to translate engagement into leverage.
_____________
