Militias in western Libya fought forces under rival army commander Khalifa Hifter on Friday, capturing 100 of his soldiers and waging an airstrike on one of his positions a day after he declared an offensive to seize Tripoli, the capital of the oil-rich nation.
The violence came as the U.N. chief wrapped up his visit Friday aimed at avoiding an expanded conflict and said he left with a "heavy heart and deep concern."
It would also put at risk upcoming peace talks between rivals brokered by the U.N. and aimed at drawing a roadmap for new elections. Those talks are scheduled for April 14-16. Hifter then ordered his forces to march on the capital, saying in an audio recording posted online: "We are coming Tripoli, we are coming." He also urged his forces to enter the city peacefully and only raise their weapons "in the face of those who seek injustice and prefer confrontation and fighting."Militias from the western cities of Zawiya and Misrata, which control Tripoli, said they had mobilized to confront Hifter.
Anti-Hifter activists on social media posted pictures of what they described as militiamen from Zawiya capturing dozens of Hifter's forces and armoured vehicles carrying stickers reading "106th Battalion." The unit is known to be commanded by Hifter's son, Khaled. It's one of the largest units Hifter has deployed to march on Tripoli.
Clashes erupted at night in the western district of Qasr Bani Ghashir, close to Tripoli International airport, which was destroyed in 2014 fighting. Former lawmaker Abdel-Raouf al-Manaei said the forces fighting under the umbrella of the Government of National Accord will not permit "a replica of el-Sissi military rule in Libya," in reference to the authoritarian Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who is an army chief turned president.
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