The Libyan National Army continues to make progress on the ground in the battle to liberate Tripoli from terrorism, as it prepares to enter the main neighbourhoods of the capital after successfully controlling strategic positions, confronting attempts of the Turkish regime to turn Libya into a new Syria. Mercenaries Erdogan has sent to support the government of reconciliation will not change the balance of power on the ground, but will motivate Libyans to resist the illegal Turkish intervention of their country.
The battle for the liberation of the Libyan capital has entered its crucial days amid indications that its end is imminent. Clashes on the ground confirm that Libyan army units have impeded and reduced armed militias supporting the Al-Wefaq government.
“We have come a long way in our plan to liberate Tripoli from the hands of militias and terrorists, and victory is just around the corner,” said Brig. Gen. Khaled al-Mahjoub, director of the Libyan National Army’s Moral Guidance Department, in a telephone conversation with Al Arabs from the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.
Libyan army units “are now a few kilometres from the al-Sarraj headquarters in the centre of Tripoli, and the people are ready to rise up against the militias after they confirmed that there are foreign invaders in their ranks,” he said.
He stressed that the Libyan army “managed to secure all areas liberated from the hands of militias during operations that took place during the last two days,” confirming field reports that the Libyan army penetrated most of the neighborhoods in the capital.
Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for the Libyan Army General Command, said the elite forces of the Libyan army are preparing to enter the battle of the main neighbourhoods in Tripoli, after taking control of several strategic areas along airport road and the strategic transport base, so that they are separated from the main neighbourhoods of the capital only hundreds of meters.
Libyan Army: “We Are No More than 300 Meters from the Main Neighborhoods of Central Tripoli”
Militias, due to their collapsing ranks, withdrew before the Libyan army’s advance. Abdelbaset Tika, spokesman for the “anti-terrorism force”, stated that forces loyal to the al-Wefaq government “were forced to withdraw from the Salah al-Din axis to preserve the lives of individuals and gunmen in the face of the army’s advance”. He described the withdrawal as “a strategic operation for the formation of different groups after receiving the required support,” referring to mercenaries brought in from Turkey.
“Turkish support for the government of reconciliation will not change the balance of power on the ground which is now in favour of the Libyan army forces, which will eliminate them, as they have previously eliminated remnants of terrorists in the different parts of Libya,” brigadier general Khaled al-Mahjoub said.
He said Erdogan’s adventure in Libya “will end in failure, and with a terrible defeat, because Libya is neither Syria nor Iraq, it is geographically far from Turkey, and he will not be able to continue to support his mercenaries against the determination of the Libyan people to confront their expansionist project, and destroy their Ottoman ambitions and dreams.”
Footage of video footage circulated on social media platforms earlier showed a number of gunmen exchanging words in a Syrian dialect, at one of the sites they control in the capital Tripoli, a few days after reports about transfers of Syrian fighters to Libya and Turkey’s route, to support the militias of the Al-Wefaq government.
The media office of the head of the Libyan government of reconciliation did not allay fears that Erdogan was trying to flood Libya with ISIS fighters, as reports of mercenary armed elements and extremist elements affiliated with the group entered through Mitiga airport on flights sponsored by Turkish intelligence from Istanbul to Tripoli.
ISIS fighters arrived by two flights from Istanbul airport to Mitiga airport via Libyan and African lines, while the third flight arrived at Misrata airport last Thursday, bringing the total number of mercenaries to about 1000 fighters.
These developments prompted the Defence and National Security Committee of the Libyan Parliament to call on the Libyan Army’s General Command to directly instruct the Libyan air force to close the country’s airspace and target the headquarters of Syrian and Turkish mercenaries.
Translation by Internationalist 360°
