Libya's remote southern desert a haven for jihadist training camps
Traditional hotbed for arms smuggling becomes a base for militant training camps after French operation flushes them from Mali
Libya's remote desert south has become a haven for north African jihadis who have set up training camps in what has traditionally been a hotbed of arms smuggling.
Weapons looted from his arsenal have made their way to the so-called Salvador Triangle, a no-man's land formed by the porous borders of Libya, Algeria and Niger, experts say.
For years the triangle was the backyard of smugglers and traffickers through which illicit weapons flowed easily between North Africa and countries in sub-Saharan Africa. But since the uprising, the activity of al-Qaeda-linked jihadis has flourished in the region, buoyed by the inability of the Libyan authorities to tame the armed groups.
On October 10, France said its forces had destroyed a convoy belonging to al-Qaeda's North African branch in Niger that was carrying arms from Libya to Mali.
The operation was part of a counterterrorism campaign led by France to flush out jihadis, including al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI), from the Sahel region. Jihadis had occupied the desert north of Mali for 10 months before they were ousted in January last year in a French-led military intervention.