ADDS CONFIRMATION BY PRO-HAFTAR SOURCE, BACKGROUND
By Walid Abdullah
TRIPOLI (AA) – Libya’s UN-backed government on Friday retook a strategic checkpoint outside Tripoli shortly after it was captured by forces loyal to military commander Khalifa Haftar, a security source told Anadolu Agency.
“Government forces have retaken Security Gate 27 [west of the capital], where they managed to capture 20 pro-Haftar military personnel,” a source from the government’s Presidential Guard told Anadolu Agency anonymously due to restrictions on speaking to media.
Shortly afterward, a high-level pro-Haftar source, speaking to Anadolu Agency anonymously due to the issue’s sensitivity, confirmed the security source’s assertions, but said as many as 30 soldiers had been captured near Tripoli.
Libyan activists, meanwhile, have shared photos online purporting to show the capture of pro-Haftar soldiers by forces loyal to the Tripoli government.
On Thursday, Haftar -- who is affiliated with a rival government based in the eastern city of Al-Bayda -- formally announced the launch of operations to seize control of the capital.
“Today we continue the struggle and answer the calls of the people of Tripoli,” Haftar said in a recorded message posted on his media office’s Facebook page.
Shortly afterward, 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”.
The order came following reports that Haftar had deployed forces to western parts of the country -- including positions near Tripoli -- 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.