Italy seizes Chinese military drones heading to Libya, authorities say

ROME — Italy has seized Chinese military drones disguised as wind turbines that were heading to Libya in violation of a U.N. embargo, Italian authorities said.

Components making up the two drones were concealed in six containers sent on two container ships from China to the Port of Gioia Tauro in Italy, where they were impounded before they could be loaded onto vessels heading for Libya, according to officials.

“The components were hidden among composite material replicas of wind turbine blades to conceal them and avoid checks,” Italian tax police and customs officials said in a statement. One of the drones featured the slogan “The energy saving world” written along its side.

The drones were heading for Benghazi under orders from Gen. Khalifa Hifter, the military strongman controlling eastern Libya, sources told Defense News on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

The U.S. spotted the shipment and tipped off Italian authorities, the sources added.

A U.N. embargo prohibits the sale of armaments to Libya, which has been racked by civil conflict since the downfall of former ruler Col. Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Each drone was more than 10 meters (33 feet) long, with a wingspan of about 20 meters (66 feet) and a weight exceeding 3 tons, according to Italian authorities. The description matches reports by sources that the drones were Chinese Wing Loong II unmanned aerial vehicles.

Italian tax police and customs officials seize what they described as Chinese drone components at the Port of Gioia Tauro in southern Italy in July 2024. (Italian government)

In 2020, when Hifter was seeking to conquer Tripoli and take over western Libya from a U.N.-backed administration, he had the support of the United Arab Emirates, which reportedly sent that drone variant to Libya . Observers claimed the UAVs were involved in the killing of 26 cadets during a missile attack at a Tripoli military academy. The UAE denied involvement.

The seizure at the southern Italian port followed a Canadian police operation in April, which led to charges for two Libyan men living in Canada with conspiracy to buy Chinese drones with Libyan crude oil. Fathi Ben Ahmed Mhaouek and Mahmud Mohamed Elsuwaye Sayeh were former employees of the International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. agency based in Montreal.

Hiftar, who was once on the CIA’s payroll , has been forging ever- closer ties to Russia , allowing the country in recent months to unload thousands of tons of military equipment at Tobruk port in eastern Libya as it seeks to supply Russian operations across Africa.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——意大利当局称，意大利查获了伪装成风力涡轮机的中国军用无人机，这些无人机违反联合国禁运，正飞往利比亚。

据官员称，组成这两架无人机的部件被藏在六个集装箱中，这些集装箱由两艘集装箱船从中国运往意大利焦亚陶罗港，并在被装上开往利比亚的船只之前被扣押。

意大利税务警察和海关官员在一份声明中表示：“这些部件被隐藏在风力涡轮机叶片的复合材料复制品中，以掩盖其真实位置并逃避检查。”其中一架无人机的侧面写着“节能世界”的标语。

消息人士告诉《防务新闻》，这些无人机是奉控制利比亚东部的军事强人哈利法·哈夫塔尔将军的命令飞往班加西的。由于没有被授权接受媒体采访，这些消息人士要求匿名。

消息人士补充说，美国发现了这批货物，并向意大利当局通报了情况。

联合国禁止向利比亚出售武器，自 2011 年前统治者穆阿迈尔·卡扎菲上校倒台以来，利比亚一直饱受内战蹂躏。

据意大利当局称，每架无人机的长度超过10米（33英尺），翼展约20米（66英尺），重量超过3吨。这一描述与消息人士的说法相符，即这些无人机是中国的翼龙II型无人机。

2024年7月，意大利税务警察和海关官员在意大利南部焦亚陶罗港查获了他们所称的中国无人机部件。（意大利政府）

2020年，哈夫塔尔试图攻占的黎波里，从联合国支持的利比亚西部政权手中夺取政权时，得到了阿拉伯联合酋长国的支持。据报道，阿联酋向利比亚提供了这种无人机。观察人士称，这些无人机参与了对的黎波里一所军事学院的导弹袭击，造成26名学员丧生。阿联酋否认参与其中。

在意大利南部港口的这次查获行动之前，加拿大警方于4月份开展了一次行动，导致两名居住在加拿大的利比亚男子被控合谋用利比亚原油购买中国无人机。法蒂·本·艾哈迈德·马乌克和马哈茂德·穆罕默德·埃尔苏瓦耶·萨耶赫曾是总部位于蒙特利尔的联合国机构——国际民用航空组织的雇员。

曾受雇于美国中央情报局的哈夫塔尔，一直在与俄罗斯建立越来越紧密的联系，近几个月来，俄罗斯得以在利比亚东部的托布鲁克港卸载数千吨军事装备，以支援其在非洲的军事行动。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。