By Walid Abdullah
TRIPOLI (AA) – Any attempt to attack Libya’s northern city of Sirte would amount to a “declaration of war”, the consequences of which would be “disastrous”, the UN-backed Libyan government’s military apparatus warned Thursday.
The warning was issued by Mohamed al-Ghosri, a spokesman for the Tripoli-based government’s Al-Bunyan al-Marsous Forces, who went on to warn against involving Sirte in “a fresh conflict”.
Last week, Al-Bunyan al-Marsous was placed on high alert after “hostile forces” were reportedly spotted near Sirte, which is located some 450 kilometers southeast of capital Tripoli.
At the time, al-Ghosri had identified the “hostile forces” as those loyal to Khalifa Haftar, a military commander affiliated with a rival government based in Libya’s eastern city of Al-Bayda.
According to al-Ghosri, Sirte has enjoyed security since the Al-Bunyan al-Marsous Forces liberated the city from the Daesh terrorist group in 2016.
Earlier this week, local activists posted video footage online purportedly showing pro-Haftar forces near Sirte’s southern entrance.
Libya has remained beset by violence 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, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Al-Bayda (with which Haftar is affiliated) and another in Tripoli -- along with a host of heavily-armed militia groups.