The announcement comes amid a major offensive by the east-based forces to take Tripoli
Ahmad al-Mesmari, a spokesman for Commander Khalifa Haftar's forces, addresses the media in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, on Jan. 6, 2020.Libya’s east-based forces said they captured the strategic coastal city of Sirte on Monday from the internationally-recognized government.
Commander Khalifa Hifter declared a “final” and decisive battle to take Tripoli last month. Fighting and shelling between the two sides has been raging there since April, with neither side making much progress.Ahmed al-Mosmari, a spokesman for Hifter’s self-styled Libyan National Army, announced Sirte had been taken in a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi.
After that, Sirte was controlled for a time by Islamist militants who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, until being defeated in 2016.The Tripoli-based government receives aid from Turkey, Qatar and Italy.
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