General Commander of Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar ordered his forces to march to Tripoli where his rival administration is based, a step deemed a major setback to efforts to bring Libyan factions together and may even lead to a civil war.
Hours after the LNA had been “welcomed” on Wednesday by the residents of Gharyan and al-Heira, 80 kilometers south of the capital, Haftar ordered his army to head towards Tripoli to “liberate it from terrorists.”
Before Haftar’s announcement, the LNA clashed with forces allied to the GNA in Gharyan, reportedly for only an hour.
Since the 2011 revolution, Libya has been divided between two main rival parties, Haftar in the east and Faiez Sarraj’s Tripoli-based Government of the National Accord (GNA) in the west.
“To our army stationed on the outskirts of Tripoli. Today we complete our march… We are going to begin shortly,” he said in a video titled “Operation to liberate Tripoli.”
Haftar added that the operation in the west will pave the way for building state institutions by ridding the western region of armed groups.
Haftar has pulled his forces to the western region after expelling armed groups and terrorists in the southern region in a campaign launched January 14.
Three weeks before launching “Operation To Liberate Libya,” the LNA intensified its presence in the central region of the country, especially in Jufra, as well as Wadi Al-Shatii, Brak, and Sabha in the west-central region alongside Bawabat Bohadi region, situated in the south of the Libyan coastal city of Sirte.
This progress has raised the suspicions of Sarraj’s government as well as the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) about the eastern army’s alleged plan to enter the capital after controlling Gharyan and Sirte.
Meanwhile, Haftar has gained support of the western regions’ residents, some of whom urged the army to stabilize their region like to the south.
In response to the LNA’s progress towards the west, Tripoli Protection Force (TPF) announced Thursday that its forces have spread across the western region to stand against LNA’s attempt to enter Tripoli.
Further, GNA’s Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha previously said his forces will “combat any attempt to destabilize Tripoli.”
The LNA’s move towards the western region coincides with UN chief Antonio Guterres’ visit to Tripoli to prepare for the National Forum on April 14 in Ghadames, which will set a plan for the long-awaited elections by bringing rival parties together and ending the crisis.
Commenting on the recent developments in Libya, Guterres told reporters that he was making a “strong appeal to stop… the escalation,” adding that Libya needs a political a solution, rather than a military one.
“I am deeply concerned by the military movement taking place in Libya and the risk of confrontation. There is no military solution. Only intra-Libyan dialogue can solve Libyan problems. I call for calm and restraint as I prepare to meet the Libyan leaders in the country,” he tweeted.
The US, UK, France and Italy also expressed their concern over the situation in Libya, calling for de-escalation and urging the parties not to resort to force in resolving the crisis.
“At this sensitive moment in Libya’s transition, military posturing and threats of unilateral action only risk propelling Libya back toward chaos,” they said in a joint statement issued by the US state department.
