Holding city would be a major gain for warlord in battle against Tripoli government

This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

Libyan forces loyal to the eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar said they had taken control of the strategic coastal city of Sirte in a rapid advance preceded by airstrikes.

Holding Sirte would be an important gain for Haftar, who since April has been waging a military offensive on the capital, Tripoli, home to Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).

Sirte lies in the centre of Libya’s Mediterranean coast and has been controlled by GNA-aligned forces since they ejected Islamic State from the city with the help of US airstrikes in late 2016.

Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) said on Monday it had taken areas surrounding Sirte including al-Qardabiya airbase, before moving towards the city centre.

“The commander-in-chief decided on a well-planned pre-emptive strike and within less than three hours we were in the heart of Sirte,” said an LNA spokesman, Ahmed al-Mismari.

“It was a sudden, swift operation,” he said, adding that the advance had been preceded by several hours of airstrikes.

An LNA military source said forces from the city of Misrata had retreated. Misrata led the campaign against Isis and is a key source of military power for the GNA.

Earlier, a resident in Sirte city centre told Reuters by phone: “We can see convoys of LNA inside Sirte city … they control large parts of the city now. We also hear gunfire.”

There was no immediate comment from GNA forces.

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Turkey is preparing to send military advisers and experts to Libya to help shore up the GNA, part of growing international involvement in Libya’s conflict.

Haftar’s LNA has received material and military support from countries including the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Egypt, according to UN experts and diplomats.

In recent weeks there has been an escalation of fighting, shelling and airstrikes around Tripoli. On Saturday evening a military college in the capital was hit, killing at least 30 people, a day after the only functioning airport in Tripoli faced its latest closure due to shelling and rocket fire.

Sirte, the birthplace of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, was taken over by Isis in early 2015, becoming the jihadist group’s most important base outside the Middle East.

The city is just to the west of Libya’s oil crescent, a strip of coastline along which several key oil export terminals are located. Haftar’s forces seized the oil ports in 2016.