Haftar’s forces quit Tripoli after year-long assault
TRIPOLI/ANKARA (Reuters) – Libya’s internationally recognized government regained control of Tripoli on Thursday, driving eastern forces out of the capital after a year-long battle in which foreign powers poured in arms and fighters.
A military source with the eastern forces, whose base is in the eastern city of Benghazi, said they were pulling back from all of Tripoli’s suburbs. Government forces said they now held everything within the city boundary.
It represents a stinging reversal for eastern commander Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA), which launched an offensive on Tripoli last year pledging to unite Libya after years of chaos.
Continued Russian, Egyptian and United Arab Emirates support for the LNA means the Government of National Accord (GNA), which is recognized by the United Nations and backed by Turkey, has little hope of carrying the war into eastern Libya for now.
But, with eastern forces withdrawing towards their northwestern stronghold of Tarhouna, the lines are being drawn for battles to come although both sides have agreed to resume
UN-brokered ceasefire talks.
The arrival of heavier weapons, which the United States says includes a fleet of Russian warplanes, means a new escalation could lead to deadlier fighting than at any time since the uprising that toppled long time former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Last week France, which has been largely supportive of Haftar, said the conflict risked replicating the scenario of Syria, where Turkish and Russian rivalry bolstered both sides in a war of attrition with bombardments and air strikes.
The main outside powers engaged in the conflict have welcomed the decision to resume ceasefire talks and publicly say they support a political resolution, but it is unclear if they could agree on a settlement.
It leaves Libya still partitioned between rival administrations in Tripoli and Benghazi in the east.
GNA Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday in Ankara, where a senior Turkish official said the GNA advances were critical before any potential peace talks.