Libya: "Al-Wefaq" attacks Al-Wattia base and Haftar forces bombed downtown Tripoli

The forces of the Libyan National Accord government said yesterday that they had attacked the Al-Watiyah military base (west of the capital, Tripoli), and had captured a number of retired Major General Khalifa Hifter's fighters, while the latter bombed a number of areas south and central of the capital.

Al-Wefaq forces spokesman Muhammad Qanunu said - in a press briefing - that the forces carried out a "successful qualitative operation that struck deep inside Al-Wattia Air Force Base (140 southwest of Tripoli), and led to the arrest of a number of militants and mercenaries."

The attack on Al-Watiyah base resulted in the capture of more than a dozen Haftar forces, including three officers.

Al-Wattia Air Force Base is the largest military base in the region stretching from west Tripoli to the Tunisian border, and was controlled by forces loyal to Haftar led by Idris Madi in 2014, and made it a center for the leadership of Western operations, and a point for mobilizing forces coming from the Libyan east, and is also used to bomb a number of areas in Tripoli.

Kanounou pointed out that the operation room "Berkan Al-Fath" launched on Wednesday dawn "Operation Storm of Peace", which targets the sites and platforms for the firing of artillery shells that targeted the capital in the recent period.

The other novel
However, Haftar's forces said that they had shifted from repelling the al-Wefaq forces ’attack on the Al-Watiyah base to grabbing control of areas near Zuwara, 45 kilometers north of the base. Near the town of Zwara, which is controlled by the Al-Wefaq government.

Haftar's forces also bombed a number of civilian areas south and central of the capital, and residents of Tripoli said that the shelling was the worst in weeks, as it shook doors and windows in the city center, several kilometers from the front lines of fighting in the southern outskirts of the capital.

"The attacks and counter-attacks in Libya continue to cause more suffering and civilian casualties," the United Nations Support Mission in Libya said, on its Twitter account, and called on the mission to immediately stop the violence.

Guterres invite
In an interview with Al-Jazeera, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that it was necessary to stop the fighting in Libya, and at this point to focus on combating the Corona epidemic only.

Despite the announcement by the Al-Wefaq government and Haftar forces a few days ago that they had agreed to a humanitarian truce to focus on anti-Corona efforts, the two sides have accused each other of breaching their obligations to bomb the other side.

Haftar's forces - backed by a number of Arab countries - launched an attack on Tripoli on April 4, 2019, with the aim of controlling it, and the internationally recognized Al-Wefaq government responded.