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Agence France-Presse

Libyan strongman Khalifa Hifter’s forces have 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 450km (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 Hifter’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.
Air strike on Libyan military academy kills at least 30
“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 Hifter 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 long-time dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
It is now divided between the GNA based in the capital Tripoli and Hifter’s forces in the east and which also control most of the country’s south.
Tensions escalated last year when Hifter launched an operation in January to “purge” southern Libya “of terrorist groups and criminals” and seized several towns with support from local tribes.
Hifter then set his eyes on Tripoli, launching an offensive on the capital in April to unseat the GNA.
The GNA has sought help from Turkey, whose parliament passed a bill allowing the government to send troops to Libya to shore up the Tripoli government.
Russian mercenaries are spearheading the battle for capital Tripoli
On Sunday, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that his soldiers had begun deploying in Libya.
Although there has been no immediate confirmation from Tripoli of that deployment, Turkey’s involvement has raised concern among Libya’s neighbours and in Europe.
Egypt said it will hold a meeting Wednesday with the foreign ministers of France, Italy, Greece and Cyprus for talks on “ways to push efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement” in Libya.

Algeria, which on Monday hosted GNA prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj as well as Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, urged the UN Security Council to impose a ceasefire in Libya.
The European Union, for its part, expressed concern over an “imminent” escalation of violence around Tripoli.
While the GNA is backed by Turkey and Qatar, Hifter has the support of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia.
On Friday, Hifter urged all Libyans to take up arms in response to any Turkish involvement in his country.
Turkish intervention in Libya could reproduce Syria scenario, experts warn
Sirte was at one stage a bastion of Islamic State (Isis) which moved into Libya amid the chaos that followed Gaddafi’s ouster.
Isis controlled Sirte from early 2015 until the GNA, backed by US air strikes, evicted the jihadists in a seven-month battle that cost hundreds of lives.
Hifter says he is seeking to rid Tripoli of armed groups and combat extremism. His opponents say he has fuelled war and instability, and fear he will return Libya to one-man rule.

Hifter’s LNA earlier Monday said on social media they were “steadily advancing towards the heart of Sirte” after seizing control of Ghardabiya airport on the outskirts.
It said forces at the airport surrendered with their equipment and reported clashes in several parts of Sirte.
Pro-GNA forces said in a Facebook post they had come under attack in Sirte and that mercenaries from Chad were fighting alongside the LNA.
Additional reporting by Reuters and Bloomberg


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Libya

Libya conflict: Hifter’s forces capture strategic coastal city of Sirte

Eastern-based Libyan military commander Khalifa Hifter. Photo: AFP

Fighters of a military battalion loyal to Libyan General Khalifa Haftar march during the morning assembly in the eastern city of Benghazi on December 18, 2019. (Photo by Abdullah DOMA / AFP)

A fighter loyal to the internationally recognised Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) fires his gun during clashes with forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar in the capital Tripoli's suburb of Ain Zara, on September 7, 2019. (Photo by Mahmud TURKIA / AFP)

Libya conflict: Russian mercenaries from the shadowy Wagner Group are spearheading the battle for capital Tripoli

Sirte forces, which are allied to the UN-backed government in Tripoli, are fighting forces backing eastern commander Khalifa Hifter. File photo: Reuters

The Bayraktar TB2 drone is pictured flying on December 16, 2019 at Gecitkale Airport in Famagusta in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). - The Turkish military drone was delivered to northern Cyprus today amid growing tensions over Turkey's deal with Libya that extended its claims to the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean. The Bayraktar TB2 drone landed in Gecitkale Airport in Famagusta around 0700 GMT, an AFP correspondent said, after the breakaway northern Cyprus government approved the use of the airport for unmanned aerial vehicles. It followed a deal signed last month between Libya and Turkey that could prove crucial in the scramble for recently discovered gas reserves in the eastern Mediterranean. (Photo by Birol BEBEK / AFP)

A fighter of Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) of Fayez Serraj, fires his rifle during clashes with forces of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, at the Al-Khalla frontline in Tripoli, Libya on Aug. 24, 2019. (Amru Salahuddien/DPA/Abaca Press/TNS)

(FILES) This file photo taken in Tripoli on June 29, 2019 shows fighters loyal to the internationally-recognised Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) displaying Chinese-made shells bearing the markings of the United Arab Emirates (left side on the box), which were reportedly seized from forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar in Gharyan, 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Tripoli. - From buying an Irish navy boat re-registered as a "pleasure yacht" to enlisting a Canadian firm to recruit Sudanese fighters -- Libya's warring parties are running rings around a UN arms embargo. Drones, armoured vehicles, anti-tank missiles -- more and more sophisticated arms have been delivered to the two camps in recent months. The report accuses the UAE of delivering a Russian aerial defence system (Pantsir-S1) to Haftar's forces. (Photo by - / AFP)

FILE - In this Aug. 14, 2017 file photo, Libyan militia commander General Khalifa Hifter, top center, listens to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, bottom center, during their meeting in Moscow, Russia. Officials in Libya’s U.N.-backed administration say they plan to present evidence to Moscow of Russian mercenaries fighting alongside their adversary in their country’s war. Libyan officials say up to 800 fighters from the Russian private security contractor Wagner Group have joined the forces of Hifter, the commander of forces battling for months trying to capture Libya’s capital, Tripoli. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)

Turkish intervention in Libya could reproduce Syria scenario, experts warn

Libyan protesters gather during a demonstration against the Turkish parliament’s decision to send Turkish forces to Libya. Photo: Reuters

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 13, 2019, US President Donald Trump and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) take part in a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. - Trump on January 2, 2020, warned Erdogan against any "foreign interference" in Libya, the White House said, after Turkish lawmakers approved a military deployment to shore up the UN-backed government in Tripoli. In a telephone call, Trump "pointed out that foreign interference is complicating the situation in Libya," White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a statement. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP)

Aguila Saleh Issa, the head of Libya's parliament, speaks during an interview with AFP in the Cypriot capital Nicosia on December 28, 2019. (Photo by Christina ASSI / AFP)

News

World

Middle East


Eastern-based commander Khalifa Hifter waging campaign for capital Tripoli since April
The strategic coastal city of Sirte lies in centre of Libya’s northern coast



Capture comes amid a major offensive by the east-based forces of Libyan military commander Khalifa Hifter to take Tripoli.


War and conflict

Turkey

Libya conflict: Hifter’s forces capture strategic coastal city of Sirte

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Eastern-based commander Khalifa Hifter waging campaign for capital Tripoli since April The strategic coastal city of Sirte lies in centre of Libya’s northern coast

Eastern-based commander Khalifa Hifter waging campaign for capital Tripoli since April

The strategic coastal city of Sirte lies in centre of Libya’s northern coast