Al-Wefaq forces launch a sweeping attack, Italy warns Erdogan against military intervention

Al-Wefaq government forces announced that they had launched a landslide attack on the militants of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar supported by foreign mercenaries at the Ramla axis in the vicinity of Tripoli International Airport, while Italy warned the Turkish president against military intervention in Libya.

And Operation Volcano Anger of the Al-Wefaq government said that it managed today, Saturday, to control several buildings that were protecting the Haftar militia, after it destroyed two tanks and an armed mechanism.

The attack came hours after Haftar Aviation launched an air strike targeting the Institute of Applied Engineering in the city of Zawiya.

This is the fifth air strike by Haftar's aircraft on targets in the city of Zawiya in three days.

On Friday, popular demonstrations in Al-Zawiya condemned the bombing of Haftar Airlines on Thursday in the city, which resulted in deaths and injuries.

Warning and suggestion
For his part, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that a flight ban could solve the conflict in Libya.

"A flight ban could also be a means to achieving this goal of an immediate cessation of hostilities," Conte said in comments on Saturday.

Conte announced his country's full support for the initiative to hold a conference on Libya in the German capital Berlin early next year.

Conte stated that he had spoken with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and said that he had warned Erdogan of the repercussions of military intervention in Libya, and said that this step would cause many civilian casualties, and would not be in the interests of either side.

Italy takes Turkey's own position in support of the government of the internationally recognized winner of the Al-Sarraj in Tripoli. In return, Haftar has the support of Russia, Egypt and the Gulf states.

Stay tuned for Turkish intervention
Conte's comments came amid anticipation of a Turkish military intervention in Libya to support the government of reconciliation and prevented Haftar from storming the capital, Tripoli.

Earlier, Turkish media reported that the ruling Justice and Development Party would submit a request to parliament, in order to ratify within days of sending troops to Libya, instead of waiting until the scheduled session on the seventh of next month.

The head of the Turkish Nationalist Party said that the party would vote in parliament in favor of passing the authorization memo regarding sending troops to Libya.

For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşo أوlu said that there are parties that want to turn Libya into another Syria, "and if that happens, the role will come on other countries in the region."

On Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that his government had requested a parliamentary mandate for military intervention in Libya to support the legitimate government, which officially requested military support from Ankara.

Erdogan pledged to prevent Haftar from dropping the legitimate government based in the capital, Tripoli, and a day after Erdogan's statements, the Turkish armed forces announced their readiness to go to Libya as soon as they received instructions.

In a related context, the Al-Wefaq government announced on Saturday that the foreign ministers of Italy, Germany, Britain and France will visit Libya on January 7.

Since April 4, Tripoli has witnessed armed battles between the forces of Haftar and the government of reconciliation recognized by the United Nations.