KARACHI: Pakistan has concluded a major arms export agreement with Libya’s eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), marking one of the country’s largest-ever conventional weapons sales and a significant step in expanding its defence exports, according to officials cited by the Reuters news agency.
The deal, valued at more than $4 billion, was finalised following a meeting last week in Benghazi between Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Asim Munir and Saddam Khalifa Haftar, the deputy commander-in-chief of the LNA. Officials described the agreement as historic in both scale and financial impact for Pakistan’s defence sector.
Neither the foreign ministry, defence ministry nor the military’s media wing responded to Reuters’ requests for official comment. However, Pakistani military officials said the agreement reflects Islamabad’s push towards an export-driven and self-sustaining economy.
According to a copy of the agreement reviewed by Reuters before it was finalised, the LNA’s procurement list includes several JF-17 fighter jets — jointly developed by Pakistan and China — as well as Super Mushak trainer aircraft used for basic pilot training. A Pakistani official said the deal covers land, sea and air equipment to be delivered over a period of approximately two and a half years, adding that the inclusion of JF-17 jets was under consideration.
Libya has been under a United Nations arms embargo since 2011, requiring UN approval for any transfer of weapons or related material. Senior Pakistani military officials, however, said the embargo had effectively been undermined over the years, noting that several Western and Middle Eastern countries had continued to supply arms to Libyan factions. One official described the embargo as a “paper restriction” that was no longer fully enforced.
Libya remains divided between rival administrations. The internationally recognised Government of National Unity, led by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, controls much of western Libya, while the LNA, led by Khalifa Haftar, controls the east and south, including key oil-producing regions, and does not recognise the authority of the Tripoli-based government.
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Any arms agreement with the LNA is likely to face international scrutiny due to Libya’s prolonged instability following the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that ousted longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
On Sunday, the LNA’s official media outlet announced that it had entered into a defence cooperation agreement with Pakistan, encompassing weapons sales, joint training and military manufacturing, though no further details were disclosed. In televised remarks carried by Al-Hadath, Haftar said the agreement marked “a new phase of strategic military cooperation” with Pakistan.
Military officials called the deal “historic in terms of size and financial impact”.https://t.co/Gik6pLwFAK
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) December 23, 2025
Pakistan has increasingly sought to expand defence exports, leveraging its domestic arms industry, which includes aircraft production, armoured vehicles, munitions and naval construction, as well as experience gained through decades of counterinsurgency operations.
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