TRIPOLI (AFP) – Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar pushed on with his assault on Tripoli yesterday, defying international calls for a ceasefire days into a battle that has left dozens dead.
At least 35 people have been killed in fighting since Haftar’s forces launched their assault Thursday, Libya’s unity government said, while the United Nations says thousands have been displaced.
Oil-rich Libya has been rocked by violent power struggles between an array of armed groups since the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-backed overthrow of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.
Haftar, a former Kadhafi military chief, has emerged as a major player, his self-styled Libyan National Army backing an administration in the country’s east in opposition to the UN-backed unity government based in Tripoli.
Having seized control of much of eastern Libya and buoyed by a series of victories in the desert south, Haftar turned his sights on Tripoli this month, vowing to ”cleanse” it of ”terrorists and mercenaries.”
After a pause overnight, fighting resumed yesterday morning around the capital’s destroyed airport, some 30 kilometers south of Tripoli, and the rural area of Wadi Rabi further east.
World powers have expressed alarm at the violence, saying it threatens to further destabilize Libya and derail UN-led efforts to find a political solution to the country’s woes.
The US has appealed for an ”immediate halt” to combat operations and the UN Security Council has called on Haftar’s forces to halt their advance.
