Hifter’s forces in Libya withdraw from parts of Tripoli in major setback

May 19, 2020

Forces loyal to Libya’s eastern military strongman Khalifa Hifter withdrew from parts of Tripoli after rival troops captured two towns near the Tunisian border and a key air base from the renegade general. 

A spokesperson for Hifter’s self-styled Libyan National Army said that was a “redistribution and repositioning in the battlefronts, disengaging from some crowded residential areas,” according to Reuters. 

Libya has been embroiled in conflict since the ousting of dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. For the past year, the Libyan National Army has been staging an offensive on the capital, Tripoli, where the internationally recognized Government of National Accord is based. 

During the past nine years, some 400,000 Libyans have been displaced — about half of them this year amid the fighting in Tripoli. 

The fighting has escalated in the past month as Hifter, backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, lost ground to Government of National Accord troops supported by Turkey. The United States, meanwhile, accuses Russia of further inflaming the conflict by sending mercenaries to fight on behalf of the eastern Libyan commander.