Militias in western Libya on Friday fought forces under rival army commander Khalifa Haftar, 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 violence came as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres finished his visit aimed at avoiding an expanded conflict and said he left with a “heavy heart and deep concern.”
A well-informed UN diplomat late on Friday said that Haftar’s forces were reported to be on the outskirts of Tripoli.
So were militias from the western city of Misrata, who now control everything from the eastern edges of the capital to Libya’s western border, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
A showdown between Haftar’s army and the militias could plunge Libya into another spasm of violence, possibly the worst since the 2011 civil war.
It would also put at risk upcoming peace talks scheduled for April 14 to 16 between rivals brokered by the UN and aimed at drawing a road map for new elections.
The UN Security Council held an emergency closed-door meeting at Britain’s request and called on Haftar’s forces to halt all military movements. It also urged all Libyan forces “to de-escalate and halt military activity.”
Haftar’s troops on Thursday captured the town of Gharyan, about 50km south of Tripoli, putting them closer to the militias than ever before.
Haftar 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.”
However, the march appeared to have faced a setback on Friday.
Militias from the western cities of Zawiya and Misrata, which control Tripoli, said that they had mobilized to confront Haftar.
“We are the revolutionaries and the elders... We declare we are in full mobilization and war,” they said in a video posted online.
A group of allied militias called the Joint Tripoli Protection Force based in the area around Tripoli announced they would also deploy to repel Haftar’s offensive.
More than 100 of Haftar’s soldiers were captured by Zawiya militias, army spokesman Ahmed al-Mesmari said, adding that the soldiers’ commander was being investigated.
Anti-Haftar activists on social media posted photographs of what they described as militia from Zawiya capturing dozens of Haftar’s forces and armored vehicles carrying stickers reading “106th Battalion.”
The unit is known to be commanded by Haftar’s son, Khaled. It is one of the largest units Haftar has deployed to march on Tripoli.
Misrata militias also launched an airstrike targeting Haftar’s position at the foot of the mountains of Nafusa, he said.
He did not elaborate on the number of casualties.
In Tripoli, council member Mohammed al-Ammari spoke from the city center saying that Libya would not become a “hostage in hands of a military dictator once again.”
There were conflicting reports during the day as to how much and where exactly Haftar’s fighters were advancing.
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 that the forces fighting under the umbrella of the Government of National Accord would not permit “a replica of al-Sisi military rule in Libya,” in reference to the authoritarian Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.
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