The mayor of the Libyan city of Bani Walid, Salem Noir, said that Russian and Syrian gunmen had left the city's civil airport, with weapons, three air defense systems, vehicles, and armed vehicles.
Noir said - in statements to the island - that these forces left the airport in three flights, and other land by road through the road to the air base of Jafra in central Libya.
He added that the airport still has large numbers of Russian and Syrian militants awaiting departure.
Noir said - in press statements - that the air defense systems that were introduced to Bani Walid (180 km southeast of Tripoli) are coming from the city of Tarhuna (90 km southeast of Tripoli), and their aim is to protect Russian mercenaries after their withdrawal from southern Tripoli.
Noir explained that after the arrival of the air defense systems in the city, the sheikhs and notables of Bani Walid granted the forces of the retired Major General Khalifa Haftar to leave until 01:00 GMT on Sunday, otherwise they will be attacked inside the city's airport.
For his part, the media office of the "Volcano of Wrath" operation published on its official Facebook page, pictures showing a Russian missile defense system in Bani Walid on Sunday morning.
It is worth noting that Bani Walid, which is the center of one of the largest Libyan tribes (Al-Warfalla), notables and its municipal council refuse to support Haftar's attack on Tripoli more than a year ago.
However, a number of the Bani Walid Brigades sided with Haftar, assumed protection of the city's airport for the benefit of its militia and foreign mercenaries, and securing the main supply route linking the Al-Jafra airbase (650 km southeast of Tripoli) and Tarhuna.
And monitored several sources loyal to the forces of the National Accord Government on Saturday and Sunday, the withdrawal of the mercenaries of the Russian "Wagner" company from south of Tripoli to Tarhuna and then to Bani Walid, and published videos and pictures of the withdrawal, in addition to the corpse of a Russian mercenary who was killed south of Tripoli, the security services of the Ministry Libyan Interior.
On Friday and Saturday, Al-Wefaq government forces managed to control combat hubs and strategic camps south of Tripoli, including the Hamza and Yarmouk camps, and the Haftar forces ’withdrawal to areas including the old airport (out of service in 2014) and the Qasr Bin Ghashir neighborhood (25 km south of Tripoli).
Haftar forces continue to suffer heavy losses as a result of harsh strikes in all cities of the western coast, up to the border with Tunisia, in addition to the strategic "Al-Wattia" base (west) and the towns of Badr, Tiji and the city of Al-Asaba in the western mountain (southwest of Tripoli).
With the support of Arab and European countries, Haftar forces have launched a faltering attack since April 4, 2019, to take control of Tripoli, the seat of the internationally recognized government, which has left civilians dead and injured, along with extensive material damage.