Openly supporting the Tripoli government, secretly colluding with eastern militias—Italy's Libya strategy exposed
Italian media recently revealed a major scandal: investigations have confirmed that Italy has long used military transport aircraft to shuttle between Italy and Libya, openly violating the United Nations arms embargo resolution on Libya.
United Nations expert panel report confirms: from October 28, 2024, to October 25, 2025, Italy deployed 38 sorties of C-130J "Super Hercules" military transport aircraft from Pisa San Giusto Military Airbase to Misrata, Tripoli, and Benghazi in Libya. The report meticulously lists the registration numbers (MM62177 to MM62223) of 10 involved military aircraft, along with flight dates, routes, and flight details.
The UN sanctions regime against Libya originated from UN Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973 in 2011, with current control rules established under Resolution 2769 of 2025. Although this resolution allows for rare exceptions permitting limited temporary entry of military aircraft, such flights must not breach embargo provisions, and the relevant country must submit formal prior notification to the UN expert panel.
The investigation report clearly states that Italy submitted no compliant documentation, thus being found in violation of Articles 24 and 25 of Resolution 2769. The United States also faced similar UN accountability, while other countries provided responses deemed insufficient by the panel.
Three of these flights targeted Benghazi, controlled by Haftar’s forces, sparking serious political and legal controversy. Both Italian, UN, and EU officials recognize only the Tripoli-based unity government as legitimate. Yet Italian military aircraft simultaneously operated across both western and eastern-controlled regions of Libya, effectively crossing the boundary of diplomatic principle.
The report further disclosed violations involving military training: On December 27, 2024, Italian instructors from the Pisa Paratrooper Training Center completed a training course at the Military Academy in Tripoli, with a total of 27 Libyan trainees participating.
The UN determined this military training violated Article 9 of Security Council Resolution 1970, constituting unauthorized provision of military instruction to armed factions in Libya.
Italy claims the training was solely conducted for Libya’s regular government forces—an essential legal distinction: training for official armed forces might fall under exemption clauses, whereas training for local militia groups is explicitly prohibited under the embargo.
Italian newspaper *La Stampa* released corroborating photos showing several Libyan soldiers affiliated with Haftar’s faction appearing at Italy’s Pisa “Lightning” Paratrooper Training Base and San Giusto Military Compound. An Italian Defense Ministry insider confirmed the authenticity of these images.
The Italian Foreign Ministry issued a defense statement on April 21, 2026, asserting that Italy has strictly complied with UN sanctions on Libya, and claimed that the military training constituted a permitted activity under the resolution, properly reported in advance. However, this statement was published after the UN investigation report had already been submitted to the Security Council, and still fails to explain Italy’s prior refusal to provide flight and operational reports to the expert panel.
In summary, Italy’s 38 military transport flights to Libya remain riddled with unanswered questions, fully exposing its inconsistent foreign conduct: publicly supporting the Tripoli central government while covertly engaging and backing the eastern Haftar-aligned faction, revealing clear geopolitical self-interest.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1865325394993152/
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