Benghazi and a number of cities in Cyrenaica have witnessed several demonstrators taking to the streets in support of the Libyan National Army led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
In Tripoli, clashes broke out in Rabish Abu Salim and the Hadaba areas in Tripoli, between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the militias of Fayez al-Sarraj government (GNA).
In Al-Wattiya, the Libyan Army Spokesman, Colonel Mohammed Ganunu, said on April 24 that the Libyan Air Force carried out four major air strikes on the Al-Wattiya Military Base.
On the international level, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the international community to back up legitimacy in Libya against the “putschist Khalifa Haftar”.
AL-WATTIYA
- the Libyan Army Spokesman, Colonel Mohammed Ganunu, said on April 24 that the Libyan Air Force carried out four major air strikes on the Al-Wattiya Military Base. Ganunu added that the Air Force targeted not only equipment, but also concentrated groups of “Haftar militias”.
BANI WALID
- air defenses of the Libyan National Army managed to shoot down a Turkish drone supporting forces of the Tripoli-based Government of “National Accord,” an LNA source told the Libyan Address Journal on April 26. According to the source, the drone was a Bayraktar on a combat mission over Wadi Dinar area in Bani Walid city.
- the media office of Volcano of Rage Operation under the command of the Government of National Accord (GNA) said Air Force fighters conducted airstrikes on southern Bani Walid; a supply line for fuel used by Khalifa Haftar’s forces for their fighters in Tarhouna and south Tripoli.
BENGHAZI
- Benghazi and a number of cities in Cyrenaica have witnessed several demonstrators taking to the streets in support of the Libyan National Army led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, after a televised speech by the LNA General Commander calling on the Libyans to topple the Tripoli-based Government of “National Accord” and the mandate “the institution that the people see fit to take over the next stage.”
RAS JEDIR
- hundreds of Tunisians stranded for weeks in war-torn Libya due to the coronavirus have returned home after forcing their way through a border crossing, the UN and aid groups said on April 21. Tunisia’s interior ministry, however, denied the Tunisians who crossed the Ras Jedir border point on April 20 had had to use force, saying authorities at the frontier allowed 652 to enter from Libya”.
TARHOUNA
- a military source said on April 23 that Haftar forces’ attempts to end the siege on Tarhouna, laid by GNA forces, had failed. “Haftar’s forces tried to advance on Al-Masabha area using Grad rockets’ shelling but failed as GNA forces retained their positions.”.
- the media adviser for the Ministry of Health, Amin al-Hashemi, stated that four people were injured as a direct result of shelling by Haftar militias on the area of Shurfat al-Melaha in Souq al-Juma on April 22.
TRIPOLI
- military sources said that violent clashes broke out in Rabish Abu Salim and the Hadaba areas in Tripoli, between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the militias of Fayez al-Sarraj government (GNA). According to media sources, witnesses reported that the area around Abu Salim in Tripoli was hit by heavy artillery. Earlier, heavy artillery sounds was renewed in the vicinity of Al-Naser Forest, for the second consecutive day, and the area of Ain Zara witnessed fall of a number of mortar shells.
- forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar targeted with several rockets a mosque in south of Tripoli, the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) said on April 26. The mosque in Ain Zara in southern Tripoli was seriously damaged after being hit by mortar shells, the GNA said in a statement. Sources from the GNA said Haftar’s forces also fired rockets at Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport and its surrounding residential areas.
- the media office of Volcano of Rage Operation of the Government of National Accord (GNA) has reported an uneasy calm on frontlines in south Tripoli, except Mashroa al-Hadba, where clashes renewed on April 26 morning. The media office added that Khalifa Haftar’s forces in southern Tripoli continued to carry out artillery shelling on civilian neighborhoods and facilities, including Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport, which had been targeted by several rockets, leaving considerable damage.
- a member of the Military Information Division of the Libyan National Army, Mundhir al-Khartush, said that the LNA’s units “have repelled a new attack by armed groups on the axis of Ahia Barria south of Tripoli,” referring to the forces of the National Accord Government.
- the media advisor to the Ministry of Health, Amin al-Hashemi, has reported the death of three citizens and wounding of another three, one of which was a foreign worker from Niger, as a result of indiscriminate shelling in the neighborhood of Ain Zara on April 23 night.
- forces under the command of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) have carried out a large-scale attack on positions for Khalifa Haftar’s forces in south and southeast Tripoli. According to sources, the attack was carried out on Mashroa al-Hadba frontline, and Karizma frontline which is close to Tripoli International Airport; the entry to Qasir Benghashir district where Haftar’s forces are mainly located. The offensive also targeted Salah al-Deen frontline, where Haftar’s forces and most Russian Wagner Group mercenaries are positioned, knowing that the frontline is under spotlight now as accusations that nerve agents have been used on it to kill GNA forces.
- two people were killed and at least six others wounded in the continuation of indiscriminate bombing by Haftar’s militias on residential neighborhoods. A source from the Ministry of Health said, that a father and his son were killed, while another and his sons were severely injured, after shells fired by Haftar forces hit their home in the Sa’idia area, of southern Tripoli.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
- Libya’s situation is ‘‘bleak’’ with ‘‘a perfect storm’’ of ‘‘a proxy war’’, a political split, economic collapse, and a pandemic, said Stephanie Williams Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) in a virtual press conference on April 23.
- Libya is turning into “an experimental field for all kinds of new weapons systems”, the United Nations’ acting special envoy said, with foreign supporters of its warring parties shipping in arms and fighters in violation of an embargo, Reuters reports.
- the High Representative of the European Union Josep Borrell said Operation IRINI doesn’t have the needed mechanisms and capabilities to start work despite being launched early this month.
- the Head of the European (EU) mission for the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union, Andrea Cozzolino, has held Khalifa Haftar fully responsible for the ongoing aggression in Libya due to his continuing attack on the capital, Tripoli. Cozzolino said, in a press statement, that “the responsibility for what is happening in Libya lies largely with Haftar, who tried to attack Tripoli”, adding that the EU views the actions of Turkey in a very good light.
- the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called on the international community to back up legitimacy in Libya against the “putschist Khalifa Haftar”. Erdogan’s remarks came in a televised statement on April 20 as he explained that fighting Coronavirus outbreak as well as regional security, especially in Libya and Syria were the main issues discussed by his government in a Monday virtual meeting.
- UNSMIL said on April 20 that it is extremely concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Tripoli and its surroundings as a result of the intensification of fighting in the past few days.
