On 22 December, Reuters reported that the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, agreed to purchase major weapons systems from Pakistan in an arms package valued at over USD 4 billion.
The deal reportedly includes 16 JF-17 Thunder multirole combat aircraft and 12 Super Mushshak trainers from Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC).
Other news sources have claimed that the deal also includes main battle tanks (MBT), naval systems, and training.
Neither the Pakistani government nor the Pakistani military has confirmed any of these details.
However, in November, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had revealed that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a “friendly country for the procurement of the JF-17.”
Thus, there are grounds for the LNA reports, as Pakistan has an active JF-17 deal (in addition to a 40-unit sale to Azerbaijan).
Moreover, with the Bangladesh Air Force committing to the Eurofighter Typhoon, the potential pool of active JF-17 buyers is narrower – if not the LNA, it would potentially be the Iraqi Air Force.
Likewise, the reported structure of the deal – i.e., 16 aircraft – follows PAC’s recommendation for a minimum of 12 single-seat JF-17C and two dual-seat JF-17B aircraft for new customers.
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At that time, Washington had seemingly urged Pakistan to take an active role in mediating the then-conflict between Iran and Israel. However, Quwa asserted that the call could focus more broadly on the Middle East as a way to shift Pakistan’s attention away from India and South Asia.
In the June 2025 article’s excerpt:
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