Forces of the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Libya’s strongman Khalifa Haftar, say they have managed to seize full control of a town south of the capital Tripoli in their westward advancement.
The development brings their conflict with the North African nation’s internationally recognized government in the capital to a potentially dangerous new phase.
“We fully control Gharyan and right now as we speak I’m driving through the town,” Abdelsalam al-Hassi, commander of the operation to secure western Libya, said on Thursday. The town is located about 100 kilometers south of Tripoli.
Libya has been the scene of increasing violence since 2011, when former dictator Muammar Gaddafi was toppled from power after an uprising and a NATO military intervention.
His ouster created a huge power vacuum, leading to chaos and the emergence of numerous militant outfits, including the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group.
Libya is now divided between two rival governments —the House of Representatives, based in the eastern city of Tobruk, and the internationally-recognized government of Fayez al-Sarraj, or the Tripoli-based unity Government of National Accord (GNA). Haftar is presumably loyal to the one in the east.
