Coastal Security Support Unit Accuses Government of “Distorting Facts” Over Zuwara Port Strikes

Libya — The Coastal Security Support Unit issued a statement criticizing what it described as a government “media spectacle” surrounding announced strikes at Zuwara Port, calling it an attempt to mask pervasive failure and corruption within state institutions.

Allegations of Misleading the Public
In its statement, the unit said the government “boasts before the media as if it had achieved a great victory,” whereas—in reality, the statement claims—“it has done nothing but stage a new media scene to distract citizens” from the public debt exceeding 300 billion dinars, “questionable deals” involving the Arenco company, “and the millions paid to militia leaders to keep them in power,” alongside chaos and an inability to pay salaries.

Claims That Civilians, Not Smugglers, Were Targeted
The statement argued the government is trying to appear to the international community as combating irregular migration, while in practice “it is targeting civilians.” It said the latest strikes on Zuwara Port “did not hit the real smugglers, but struck civilian fishing boats and two Coast Guard vessels,” resulting in civilian injuries, some of them critical.

Government Blamed for Escalation
The unit described events as “systematic deception to burnish a failing image,” asserting that all previous strikes on the city followed the same timing, method, and “poor staging.” It held the government fully responsible for attacks on civilians and for policies that threaten national stability.
The statement also alleged that “individuals from within the city provided false information and coordinates” that facilitated the operations.

Pledge to Continue National Duties
Concluding, the Coastal Security Support Unit reaffirmed its commitment to performing its national duty to protect the coastline and citizens’ security, rejecting what it called “the distortion of facts and the trading in Libyans’ blood.”