Haftar’s forces make gains in twin thrusts on militia holding Derna

Libyan National Army tanks and armoured vehicles pushed into western and eastern sections of Derna yesterday, three weeks after launching a campaign to liberate the coastal town from militias.

Fighting raged as the twin thrusts moved towards the town centre, with units advancing to within a kilometre of the small port and capturing the western Shiha and central Bab Tobruk districts.

The town of 125,000 people is under the control of the Derna Protection Forces, a militia coalition that refuses to accept the authority of the eastern House of Representatives parliament in Tobruk.

The Libyan National Army first surrounded the town in 2014 but in an effort to control strategic heights first, its forces did not attempt to capture it until four years later, on May 16. From those heights artillery spotters are able to target militia units in the town.

Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, its leader, says the militias holding the town are terrorists and has vowed to expel them.

“In good news for all honourable Libyans, the hour of victory is approaching, [as is] the announcement of the city of Derna rid of terrorism, secure and at ease, under the protection of the armed forces and security units,” Field Marshall Haftar said on Monday.

Photographs on social media show the Libyan National Army’s armoured vehicles and jeep-mounted machine guns battling militia in the town.

But the forces’ advances are episodic as defensive positions are identified then targeted by guided artillery before the infantry is deployed.

Reports indicate that four of the National Army battalions are advancing into the town, two from each side, bolstered by its Al Saiqa special forces regiment.

Meanwhile the UN Support Mission in Libya called on combatants to permit access to aid organisations.

On Sunday the UN said that 17 civilians had been killed and 22 wounded since fighting began last month. There are conflicting reports of casualties suffered by the combatants.

ISIS captured Derna in October 2014. Its terrorists were ousted by the Derna militia coalition in July 2015.

The militias have since refused to accept the authority of Tobruk.