Ahmad 
The Tripoli-based military force, the 444th Brigade, announced that 3 of its members were killed in clashes with smugglers and drug dealers in the desert near the Libyan-Algerian border.
According to a statement issued by the force on Tuesday, the confrontations took place “in a heated scene and lasted for hours,” as the force managed to thwart “the smuggling of a huge amount estimated at five million narcotic pills.”
The brigade patrols southern Tripoli and other towns to combat smuggling, where it is considered one of the most powerful military units in the city.
Smuggling gangs have been exploiting the security vacuum in Libya since the events in the country in 2011, which has made huge profits from these illegal activities.
The 444th Brigade posted photos on “Facebook” showing its patrols in the desert and piles of cardboard boxes with white and red grain samples on top.
The photographs showed two suspected smugglers on their knees with their hands above their heads and surrounded by brigade fighters.
In this context, the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs organized a workshop in Tripoli to enhance international cooperation and combat smuggling, in which officials and security experts from 26 countries participated.
An American drone monitors the Libyan coast amid international surveillance operations