Libyan Commander Khalifa Haftar urged his forces to advance towards the centre of Tripoli on Thursday in what he said would be the "final battle" for the capital.
Haftar, who heads the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), launched a military operation in April to try to take control of Tripoli which stalled on the outskirts of the city.
"Today we announce the decisive battle and the advancement towards the heart of the capital to set it free ...advance now our heroes," Haftar said in a televised speech broadcast on Thursday.
His forces have often issued announcements of advances or decisive military action that have been followed by little concrete change on the battlefield.
What is After Freeing Tripoli?
“We are in the final stage of the battle,” Abdulhadi Lahweej, self-styled foreign minister in the eastern government loyal to the Libyan military strongman, said in an interview in Moscow. “This is a very difficult operation.”
Since the NATO-backed ouster of Moammar Qaddafi in 2011, the North African state that holds Africa’s largest proven oil reserves has been engulfed by violence and political turmoil.
Two major rival forces are fighting each other for control: the Government of National Accord in Tripoli, which is endorsed by the UN, and one in the eastern city of Tobruk allied with Haftar. His Libyan National Army advanced on Tripoli eight months ago, where it’s become bogged down on the outskirts and has been unable to capture the city.
"Within six months after the LNA eventually captures Tripoli, the Haftar-allied government plans to conduct national elections and establish a new ruling authority," said Lahweej.
Sarraj, whose GNA forces are branded as terrorists by Haftar despite cooperating on counter-terrorism with the U.S. and its allies, will be “dealt with according to the law,” he said. “He has betrayed Libya by cooperating with the Turks.”
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