Libyan media sources announced that the commander of the al-Watiyah air base of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar was killed during the liberation of al-Qaeda west of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, while the International Criminal Court confirmed that it is currently working on issuing new warrants for the arrest of elements in Libya for war crimes.
And the "Libya Al-Ahrar" channel quoted an unnamed military source as saying that "the commander of the al-Wattiyya protection force of the Haftar terrorist militia, Osama Msek, was killed in an attack by Al-Wefaq forces on the base."
The Libyan government forces began at dawn today, Tuesday, a military operation to liberate the Al-Watiyah base, days after being surrounded, a military source told Anadolu Agency, and the government source said that the heavy artillery paved the way for ground forces to storm the base.
The operation was preceded by extensive fire, as the Libyan air force launched several raids on the base during the past few days.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised speech on Monday that "good new news from Libya will be returned to us soon, God willing," stressing that "Libya's security and the safety and prosperity of its people are the key to stability in the entire North African and Mediterranean region."
At the end of last April, the Libyan government forces spokesman, Muhammad Qanunu, said that Al-Wattia was the most dangerous base used by the rebels in their aggression against the capital.
The importance of the Al-Wattayah base lies in its naturally fortified location, which was built by the Americans during World War II (1939-1945) in an area far from population centers, and the nearest inhabited area is 25 kilometers away.
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The International Criminal
Court, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, said on Tuesday that the court "is currently working on issuing new warrants for the arrest of individuals in Libya, in light of the increase in violence and fighting in and around the capital, Tripoli (west)."
During a UN Security Council session via television, Bensouda urged the council "to bring to justice those accused of war crimes in Libya."
She added that "more than a year ago, a military militia led by Major General (retired) Khalifa Haftar known as the Libyan National Army launched a military campaign against Tripoli, and my office is monitoring the situation, and we are very concerned about the high number of civilian casualties due to air strikes and bombing."
She added that her office communicates the collection and analysis of information related to incidents that occurred during this period of armed conflict, which could constitute war crimes under the Rome Statute (of the International Criminal Court), which prohibits deliberate attacks on hospitals, schools, and places of worship.
On the issue of detainees and ill-treatment in detention centers and enforced disappearances in Libya, Bensouda said that there are increasing numbers of migrants and detainees being held without following the appropriate legal rules and subjecting them to torture and rape of women and men.
Gaddafi's son,
Fatou renewed her call to the need to arrest Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, and hand him over to the court in The Hague on charges of committing war crimes during the revolution against his father.
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She also said that her office had access to information indicating those responsible for the disappearance of the Libyan representative, Siham Sarqubo, indicating that Khalifa Haftar had not facilitated the arrest of Mahmoud Al-Warfalli, accused of war crimes, and his extradition to the International Criminal Court, which requested him.
The President of the Presidential Council of the National Accord Government in Libya, Fayez al-Sarraj, has welcomed all political initiatives that call for peaceful solutions to the current crisis away from the fighting and the imposition of the status quo by force of arms.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya had previously called on the parties to the conflict to resume joint military talks with the aim of reaching a permanent ceasefire agreement according to the UN map.
The Al-Wefaq government stipulated that any cease-fire leading to a "true truce" required "international guarantees" that would activate the work of the "5 + 5" committee that called for the United Nations to resume it.
The JMC 5 + 5 (five members of Haftar’s forces and the same in Al-Wefaq government forces) were approved within the Geneva dialogues last February with the aim of achieving a permanent ceasefire.
A week ago, Hifter announced the abolition of the political "Skhirat Agreement", and installed himself as governor of the country, without relying on any legitimacy recognized internationally or internationally, which sparked widespread domestic, international and international condemnation.
In December 2015, the Libyan parties signed a political agreement in the Moroccan city of Skhirat, which resulted in the formation of a presidential council leading the Al-Wefaq government, in addition to an extension to the parliament, and the establishment of a higher state council, but Haftar sought for years to block it and topple it.