Libyan warlord declares Benghazi won
Libya’s eastern commander Khalifa Haftar said on Wednesday his forces had taken full control of Libya’s Benghazi from rival armed groups after a three-year campaign.
The battle for Benghazi between Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) and an array of Islamist militants and other fighters has been part of a broader conflict since Libya slipped into turmoil following the 2011 fall of strongman Muammar Gaddafi.
This marks a major advance for Haftar, who has gained ground in eastern and southern Libya in defiance of a UN-backed government in Tripoli.
“Your armed forces declare to you the liberation of Benghazi from terrorism, a full liberation and a victory of dignity,” Haftar said in a televised speech. “Benghazi has entered into a new era of safety and peace.”
Before he spoke, LNA forces made rapid progress through the seafront district of Sabri, using heavy artillery to blast their way through some of the final pockets of resistance.
As they have after past retreats in the battle for the city, rival armed groups may fall back on using guerrilla tactics against Haftar’s forces.
Haftar launched his “Operation Dignity” in Benghazi in May 2014, promising to crush Islamists blamed for a wave of assassinations and bombings.
Over three years his forces have clashed with militants as well as with former anti-Gaddafi rebels resisting what they saw as an attempt to reimpose autocratic rule. The LNA suffered heavy losses, which its own officials put at more than 5,000 men.
Haftar’s critics accuse him of dragging Benghazi into a war that he has used to establish military control over much of eastern Libya. Parts of Benghazi have been wrecked by heavy shelling and air strikes.
Haftar has made little secret of ambitions to enter Tripoli, where he portrays his rivals as beholden to Islamists and militia rule.
He has backing from foreign powers including Egypt and the UAE, and has cultivated closer ties with Moscow.
Though weak, the UN-backed government in Tripoli retains the formal support of most Western powers. REUTERS