Libya's Haftar begins campaign to take capital Tripoli

By Jihad Nasr and Walid Abdullah

TRIPOLI (AA) – Military commander Khalifa Haftar on Thursday launched a campaign aimed at capturing capital Tripoli, where Libya’s UN-backed unity government is headquartered.

Haftar, who is affiliated with a rival government based in the eastern city of Al-Bayda, announced the launch of the campaign in a recorded message posted on his media office’s Facebook account.

“Today we continue the struggle and answer the calls of the people of Tripoli,” Haftar says in the message.

Earlier Wednesday, Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Tripoli-based government, ordered the government’s security forces to “prepare for -- and respond to -- any threats aimed at destabilizing the region”.

Earlier the same day, Haftar reportedly ordered his forces to deploy to western parts of the country with a view to “purging the region of terrorist groups and strongholds”.

Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of President Muammar Gaddafi after four decades in power.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power: one in the eastern city of Al-Bayda, to which Haftar is linked, and the UN-backed government in Tripoli.