Haftar forces seize control of Sirte
Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar’s forces Monday seized the coastal city of Sirte from factions loyal to the Tripoli government, raising tensions as Turkey said it was deploying troops in the North African country.
Sirte, some 450 kilometres (280 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, had been held since 2016 by forces allied with the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).
But on Monday, a spokesman for Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) said the city had fallen to his fighters within hours.
“Sirte has been totally liberated,” Ahmad al-Mesmari announced on television.
“The operation was quick and lasted only three hours,” Mesmari said, although preparations had started months earlier with air strikes on positions of pro-GNA forces.
He said Haftar loyalists struck from five land and sea positions and had air cover. He did not give further details.
The GNA did not immediately confirm the fall of Sirte, but a pro-GNA military commander in the city, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the loss.
The oil-rich North African country has been plunged into chaos since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that killed longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
It is now divided between the GNA based in the capital Tripoli and Haftar’s forces in the east and which also control most of the country’s south.
On Sunday, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that his soldiers had begun deploying in Libya.
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