Tunisia, Libya explore military collaboration

TUNIS, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Tunisia's Defense Minister Khaled Shili met Thursday here with visiting Chief of General Staff of the Libyan Army Muhammad Ali Al-Haddad to discuss strengthening military cooperation between the two neighboring countries, according to a statement from the Tunisian Defense Ministry.

During the meeting, Shili highlighted the strong historical and fraternal ties between Tunisia and Libya, stressing the importance of enhancing military collaboration.

The Tunisian minister emphasized the existing military cooperation and underscored the importance of enhancing it in key areas such as training, capacity building, exchange programs, and expertise sharing.

Shili also called for deepening collaboration to form a strategic partnership based on solidarity, particularly in intelligence exchange, counterterrorism, the fight against organized crime, smuggling, and illegal immigration.

The Tunisian official underscored the necessity of bolstering border security, improving operational readiness, and ensuring the effective implementation of joint security programs.

Shili also praised Libya's participation in multilateral military exercises hosted by Tunisia in 2024, such as "African Lion" and "Phoenix Express."

For his part, Al-Haddad praised the deeply rooted fraternal relations between Tunisia and Libya, expressing willingness to continue and enhance military cooperation to higher levels and to promote bilateral cooperation in a way that serves the interests of both nations, according to the statement.