• Live
    • Audio Only
  • google plus
  • facebook
  • twitter
News > Libya

Libya’s GNA Retakes Two Towns, Haftar Loses Even More Ground

  • Libya has been in turmoil since the NATO-backed overthrow of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

    Libya has been in turmoil since the NATO-backed overthrow of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. | Photo: EFE

Published 19 May 2020
Opinion

The capture of the two towns came just one day after the GNA’s forces seized the strategic al-Watiya airbase south of Tripoli.

Forces allied with Libya's U.N.-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) said Tuesday they have retaken two towns near the Tunisian border from the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) under military commander Khalifa Haftar.

RELATED: 

Libya: Shelling Kills at Least 7 at Displaced People Shelter

"Our heroic forces have entered the towns of Bader and Tiji amid welcome from their residents," the media office of the GNA said in a statement on Facebook.

The announcement came just one day after the GNA’s forces recaptured Monday the strategic al-Watiya airbase south of the capital, Tripoli.

Losing the base, one of his main strongholds in the west of the country, was a major blow to Haftar, who has been trying to seize the capital from the GNA for over a year.

A spokesperson for the LNA, Ahmed al-Mesmari, said Tuesday the airbase had been abandoned as part of a long-planned strategic decision and that only old, obsolete equipment remained there.

Al-Mesmari said the forces had executed a "redistribution and repositioning in the battlefronts, disengaging from some crowded residential areas".

"This move was not made in the spur of the [moment]; it was planned for months. We've been pulling out strategical equipment and heavy military gear from the base," the spokesperson said.

"Only yesterday orders were given from personnel to withdraw under our air cover. The withdrawal was successful, and we've moved the personnel and all the weaponry and ammunition.”

RELATED: 

European Union Urges Libya Truce, Resumption of Peace Talks

"We have our own plans and we will recapture the airbase."

After weeks of attempts, the GNA was able to take al-Watiya airbase, their biggest advance in a year that deprives enemies of their only airfield near Tripoli.

GNA Minister of Interior Fathi Bashagha said on Twitter that "Haftar's chance of success is now effectively zero." 

Since April 2019, Haftar's forces have been fighting to capture Tripoli, the seat of the GNA. The latter could move to the front foot in the war since January, partly thanks to increased military support from Turkey.

Fighting between the two sides -which has caused more than 1,000 deaths since April last year- has raged in recent weeks despite international calls for a humanitarian truce amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The North-African nation, which has significant oil reserves, has been in turmoil since the NATO-backed overthrow of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

From 2014 and on, it has had two political power centers, the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli, and another government in Tobruk, an eastern city which has remained under Haftar's control.

Comment
0
Comments
Post with no comments.