Libya Haftar's militias 'rain' rockets on Tripoli neighbourhood

Forces loyal to Haftar have launched a barrage of rocket fire into civilian areas of Tripoli, following the rogue general's announcement that the capture of the capital was 'imminent'.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab & agencies

18 December, 2019

A missile truck found at a camp used by forces loyal to Haftar [Getty]

The internationally-approved Government of National Accord on Wednesday accused Khalifa Haftar's self-styled "Libyan National Army" of launching a "rain" of missiles into civilian areas of Tripoli.

The official press office of the "Volcano of Rage", the government campaign to counter the assault led by the rogue general's forces, announced on their Facebook and Twitter accounts that groups loyal to Haftar had launched a barrage BM-21 Grad series rockets into civilian areas.

Footage showing the attacks have been uploaded to the social media accounts belonging to the campaign, captioned: "Scenes showing a rain of BM-21 Grad missile rockets fired randomly by militias loyal to the rogue war criminal [Khalifa Haftar] into northern Tripoli, targeting civilians."

In a televised speech two weeks ago, Khalifa Haftar declared his self-styled Libyan National Army was waging a final "decisive battle" to take Tripoli from Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj's UN-supported government.According to Sputnik, the civil and military governate of Greater Tripoli has called on the Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj to rapidly bolster troop mobilisation, in response to the attacks.

While Sarraj shrugged the threats, he called on Libyans to rally in defence of the nation.

Read more: Libyan PM slams Haftar threat to resume Triplo offensive amid EU condemnation

Tuesday's attacks come a day after Egyptian President vowed to continue support for Haftar, who told a youth conference in Sharm Al Sheikh in Sinai that Egypt's support was "solid" and could not be "replaced".

Sisi's remarks were a challenge those of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who declared he was ready to send Turkish troups into Libya if requested by the country’s Government of National Accord.

Last month, Libya's government signed a security accord and maritime deal with Turkey last month.

Analysts see the eruption of a proxy war as detrimental to international efforts to bring Libyan parties to the negotiating table.

In a recent EU summit, the leaders of France, Germany and Italy called on all sides in the conflict to cease fighing.

In a joint statement, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and Guiseppe Conte affirmed their "full support for the United Nations and the work of Special Representative of the Secretary General, Ghassan Salame".

Peace and stability in Libya, the statement added, could only be achieved through "a political solution".

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