Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar announced Thursday the “liberation” of Derna, the only city in the eastern region beyond his control, from radical militias.
“We proudly announce the liberation of Derna, a city dear to all Libyans,” the breakaway military leader said in a televised speech. He promised residents a “new era of freedom, security and peace”.
A spokesman for Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) said troops stormed “the last stronghold of the Al-Qaeda organisation” in the city center.
The LNA launched its offensive on May 7 to seize the city, a coastal town of nearly 150,000 people, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) east of Tripoli.
The LNA said earlier this week it had regained “full control” of Libya’s oil crescent, days after it retook Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra — through which Libyan oil is transported abroad — from a rival militia in nearly two weeks of deadly clashes.
Haftar said all future revenues from the terminals under his control would be handed over to the unrecognized administration.
Washington and its allies on Wednesday demanded that the two key oil installations be returned to the control of the UN-backed government, which called on the UN Security Council to block any “illegal” oil exports from the country.
Source: AFP
