Al-Kufra municipality and the city’s emergency room have denounced linking the city and its Subul Al-Salam Brigade in the conflict in Sudan by certain media, denying the presence of any mercenaries in the city.

The municipality confirmed in a statement Friday that Subul Al-Salam Brigade was the one that guarded the borders and fought crimes of human trafficking, and smuggling of drugs and weapons, saying that the southeastern borders of Libya had been fully secured because of it.

The statement denied the presence of any mercenaries or armed groups in Al-Kufra, stressing that all legal measures would be taken against those who “defame the city and its history”, calling on local media to pay attention not to help promote fake news because of the impact it would have on the country’s sovereignty.

Subul Al-Salam Brigade is an armed paramilitary brigade, and most of its members are said to be affiliated with the Madkhali Salafist movement that owes most of its loyalty to Haftar, specifically because of certain fatwas from the sheikhs of the Madkhali Salafist approach who operate in Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Libyan media reported an Africa Intelligence website’s article saying that Subul Al-Salam in Al-Kufra, which is active in the southeastern regions of Libya near the Libyan borders with Chad, Sudan and Egypt, had been raising concerns for Western governments.

The website said that since the start of the conflict in Sudan, convoys of gasoline and weapons had been seen moving toward the Libyan border with Sudan in the area controlled by Subul Al-Salam members, which indicated that there was some sort of contact between Subul Al-Salam and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).