Fighting game in Libya



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It's a day of rest after fighting on the front line in Libya. Abdelaziz and his comrades dropped their weapons to take their phone and resume the fight.

"The guys from (Khalifa) Haftar are coming to pick us up," shouts Abdelaziz, referring to the strong man who launched an offer to capture Tripoli last month.

Young men's eyes are fixed on their mobile phones when they embark on PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, or PUBG, a brutal "Battle Royal" game in which the winner is the last survivor.

The online multiplayer video game is one of the most popular in the world with over 360 million downloads.

The Iraqi parliament voted last month in favor of the ban on gambling for "incitement to violence". This game has also been banned in Nepal and in the Indian state of Gujarat.

In Libya, PUBG is in a rage, especially on the front line in the suburbs of Tripoli and the outskirts of the city, where forces loyal to the internationally recognized national accord government are fighting the so-called Libyan national army of Haftar since one month.

"We play there on our return from the front, and sometimes even ahead," said Abdelaziz, the beefy, hoarse voice.

Aged 25 and his comrades fighters of a "katiba" or battalion in Misrata, they fight alongside other pro-GNA forces in Ain Zara, a district in the southern suburbs of Tripoli.

That afternoon, they rested in their camp at Tajoura, a coastal town east of the capital.

Fighters loyal to the nationally recognized accord government around the world gather around a table and embark on the online video game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG). By FADEL SENNA (AFP) Fighters loyal to the nationally recognized accord government around the world gather around a table and embark on the online video game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG). By FADEL SENNA (AFP)

Under a wide awning, Abdelaziz and his comrades – most of them in their twenties – laid their Kalashnikov badault rifles repaired with tape and their rocket propelled grenade launchers on a table.

They take their phone, go online and launch the game with their carefully selected outfits and avatars, some more colorful than others.

They jump planes with 100 other players and parachute on an island where they collect weapons and eliminate until the last is standing.

"We learn tricks"

"I discovered the game a year ago thanks to these guys, I tried it out of curiosity and fell in love," says Abdelaziz.

"At night, we play, you do not sleep," another player laughed.

Mohamed Shaafi, aged 19 and wearing a camouflage cap, intervenes.

"Whether it's the morning, the afternoon or the night, we have to play," he says.

"This excites us and we can even learn tricks (for the real battlefield): where to look, how to crawl, how to train.

"It motivates us when we play before going to the front," he says, looking under the cap of his cap pulled up like that of a cyclist.

For some of the young Libyans who play PUBG, their virtual opponents are the same as the ones they fight in the troubled streets of Ain Zara. By FADEL SENNA (AFP) For some of the young Libyans who play PUBG, their virtual opponents are the same as the ones they fight in the troubled streets of Ain Zara. By FADEL SENNA (AFP)

Around the table, we hear the first crackling shots from their phones.

Without ever leaving their screens of the eyes, the four young men speak as in battle.

"There is someone under the tree: watch out!", "Come down!", "You're far away!", "Do not you have a rifle? I'm here, do not t & # 39; Do not worry. "

For Abdelaziz, his virtual opponents are the same as "the guys from Haftar" with whom he fights in the stifled streets of Ain Zara.

"The front, it's PUBG in real life, that's why we love this game," says Akram with a smile, his combat helmet still on his head, while watching the unfolding Of the game.

Abdelaziz says "there is a big difference between real life and games".

"At play, when you die, you can come back in. In real life, it's over."

Mohamed, on the contrary, prefers almost the reality of the front.

"In the game, when you are hurt and you call for help, no one comes, but on the battlefield, someone comes to help you," says the young man with a bandage at the leg.

After 10 minutes of play, one of the players finally raises the head of his screen.

He seems upset as he puts his phone on the table before saying, "I do not have any battery anymore".

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