Libya: Al-Wefaq government rejects Hifter's truce and attacks its fortifications south of Tripoli

The Libyan National Accord government rejected the truce offered by retired Major General Khalifa Haftar during the month of Ramadan, as its forces launched an attack on Haftar sites south of Tripoli.

In a statement released today, Thursday, the council said that any ceasefire needs international care and guarantees.

The Presidential Council affirmed the continuation of legitimate defense, striking the hotbeds of threat wherever they exist, and ending what he described as outlawed groups who underestimated the lives of Libyans throughout the country.

And Ahmed al-Mesmari, a spokesman for Haftar's forces, said yesterday that his forces will stop shooting in the month of Ramadan.

Al-Mesmari said that the cease-fire came on the occasion of the blessed month, and in response to the request of the international community and friendly and brotherly countries, as he put it, but he warned against what he described as an immediate and harsh response to those who violate the cessation of military operations.

On the reasons for requesting the truce, Aqila Saleh, Speaker of the House of Representatives held in the city of Tobruk in eastern Libya, said that the reports of Russian advisors confirm the difficult situation for Haftar forces in the vicinity of Tripoli, and suggested that they request a humanitarian truce to stop the fighting.

Saleh added in his meeting with the al-Obaidat tribe (eastern Libya) that the Russians had warned that the war would move to a new stage, after Turkish warplanes targeted the supplies of Haftar forces in the vicinity of the city of Tarhuna.

In the past, the Libyan Al-Wefaq government accused Haftar's forces of violating several truces by bombing city facilities in Tripoli and other areas.

Attack of Concord

On the ground, today, Al-Wefaq government forces launched a heavy and medium weapons attack on Haftar forces holed up inside the Hamza camp, at the axis of the Hadaba Project, south of Tripoli.

A field source from the Al-Wefaq forces said the attack was aimed at recovering the camp that Haftar forces used to target Tripoli neighborhoods with rocket-propelled grenades.

Al-Wefaq forces also launched a counter-attack on Haftar forces in the vicinity of the city of Tarhuna, the main stronghold of its forces in the western region, and Libyan sources had talked yesterday evening about clashes on the outskirts of Tarhuna that resulted in deaths on both sides.

The axis of Ain Zara and Salah al-Din, south of Tripoli, also witness a mutual mortar shelling between al-Wefaq forces and Haftar forces, with the two sides maintaining their positions.

On the other hand, the Sudanese army denied today that Emirati officials came Tuesday to Khartoum to discuss supporting the retired Libyan brigade, Khalifa Hifter, after his recent losses.

He said in a statement that the Emirati plane that landed at the Khartoum military base carried aid to poor families on the occasion of Ramadan.

He added that the talk about the presence of an Emirati security official and the plane carrying Sudanese soldiers to Libya was false.

Prior to that, the Sudanese Minister of Information, spokesman for the Sudanese government, Faisal Muhammad Saleh, acknowledged that an Emirati plane had landed in Khartoum with the Manchester City emblem on it.

But he said that this plane was carrying medical aid and this was documented during the unloading of the cargo, he said.

Informed sources said to the island that Emirati officials arrived in Khartoum on a secret visit to discuss the support of Major General Haftar with more mercenary fighters.

According to Al-Jazeera sources, prominent Emirati officials, led by National Security Adviser in the UAE Tahnoon bin Zayed, were on board the UAE plane, "A6-BND".