Libyan army poised to take over city of Zawiya

TRIPOLI: The Libyan eastern-based army is preparing to launch a largescale military operation aimed at controlling the city of Zawiya, 45km west of Tripoli, reports a military source.

“Military reinforcements arrived in the outskirts of Zawiya with the maximum readiness of the army units, especially in the areas of Bir al-Ghanam and Garyat Naser in the southern outskirts of the city,” the source said. “The coming few days will see limited progress towards the city, pending orders to start invasion and launch a major operation to regain control of the city.”

There is co-ordination within Zawiya with a number of army officials saying they are waiting for orders to attack strongholds of terrorist and outlaw groups.

Army commander General Khalifa Haftar earlier announced plans to take over Zawiya, saying the army had taken control of parts of the western region from Zwara on the border with Tunisia.

Libya’s western region has recently witnessed an uprising of armed battalions backed by armed civilians, against militias, which resulted in the expelling of the militias from the cities of Sabratha, Sorman and Ajailat.

Haftar’s army, allied with the Libyan eastern-based parliament, controls eastern and southern Libya and part of the west.

The rest of the country is dominated by the UN-backed government of national accord. Libya has been struggling to make a democratic transition since 2011. – Xinhua