Fighters loyal to the internationally recognized government (GNA) of Libya on Monday pushed their advance on the strategic city of Sirte, prompted by the recent military gains and withdrawal of Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) from around the capital, Tripoli.
This comes after the unilateral ceasefire proposed by Egypt over the weekend. It is the backer of the LNA, who has waged a year-long offensive trying to capture Tripoli. Fathi Bashagha, the interior minister of the UN-backed GNA, said that the government would participate in the political talks after taking the city of Sirte and inland Jufra airbase, to the south.
Fayez Al-Sarraj, the Prime Minister of GNA, based in Tripoli, told the soldiers to continue their path to Sirte, according to the statement issued by Mohamed Gnunu, a spokesperson of the Tripoli-allied forces. He also posted the footage of captured vehicles and tanks on the outskirts of Sirte.
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However, LNA’s media cell said that its fighters had destroyed a military company that included Turkish made tanks and Hausers, along with a bus allegedly carrying Syrian fighters and Turkish troops who have been aiding Tripoli in its fight against the LNA.
On Monday, the shelling by the Tripoli-based forces on Sirte injured eight civilians and wounded six others in a town 30 km west of Sirte. The dead included the family of seven people, the Libyan Red Crescent said.
Over the weekend, Egypt proposed a unilateral ceasefire, which was rejected by GNA. Backed by Ankara, the GNA forces gained the upper hand after retaking Tripoli’s airport, all the entrances and exits to the city, and a string of key strategic towns, forcing LNA fighters to withdraw.
Haftar’s forces continued to lose ground on Monday to GNA forces, which has been pushing forward to the city of Sirte. Aljazeera reported that GNA troops had entered the western gates of Sirte and Wadi al-Jarf, which is south of Sirte.
The coastal city of Sirte is the gateway to the country’s major eastern oil fields, still held by LNA forces and tribesmen loyal to Haftar. However, experts believe that taking control of Sirte would open the way for GNA forces to push further eastwards and seize control of vital oil terminals, installations, and oil fields.
Earlier this year, the tribesmen loyal to Haftar shut down all the major oil fields and terminals, cutting Libya’s major source of income. Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, the Egyptian President on Saturday, proposed a ceasefire starting from Monday, which was accepted by Haftar and Aguila Saleh, the speaker of the rival parliament based in the east.
On Monday, Anwar Gargash, UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, tweeted that the initiative would strengthen Arab and international momentum for immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Foreign soldiers and return to a political solution.
Eastern-based Libyan National Army is backed by Russia, France, UAE, and Egypt. But Russia now wants the negotiations with GNA to resume, as it no longer sees a positive outcome of Haftar’s offensive launched in April last year.
According to Aljazeera, the meeting has not yet been announced either by Russia or Tripoli, which suggests that GNA is not ready to tell its local allies that it is engaging in a dialogue with a rival administration in the east.
Since the 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed the longtime military dictator Muammar Gaddafi, the country has been engulfed in the civil war that has killed and displaced thousands of civilians.
