After controlling Al-Watiyah base, the Libyan Al-Wefaq government is looking into the next steps and heralding the day of the "Great Victory"

The Libyan National Accord government is studying the next military steps after its forces took control of the Strategic Air Force Base in the west of the country today, while the Libyan army said that this victory would contribute to liberating the south of the capital, Tripoli, and it would be under the control of the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Hifter.

A high-ranking Libyan government source told Al-Jazeera that the Presidential Council of the Al-Wefaq government is in permanent session to study the next steps after the restoration of the base (140 km southwest of Tripoli), which had been controlled by Haftar loyalists for several years, and was the starting point for air and ground attacks.

The source added that the Presidential Council is continuing its military plan to achieve its goals, complete the control of the Al-Wefaq government and extend its influence over the entire Libyan soil.

For his part, Prime Minister of the National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, said that controlling the al-Wataya air base is not the end of the battle, but rather bringing the forces of the Accord government closer to liberating all cities and regions, and permanently eliminating the tyranny project, adding that what happened makes the "Great Day of Victory" more soon.

Al-Sarraj, as the Supreme Commander of the Army, declared - in a statement - his pride and joy in liberating the Al-Watiyah base from the grip of what he described as criminal militia and terrorist mercenaries, praising the courage of the reconciliation forces.

The Libyan army confirmed that the restoration of the Al-Watiyah base would pave the way for the expulsion of Haftar forces from the southern suburbs of Tripoli, which have been under attack for more than a year, and also from the city of Tarhuna (80 km southeast of the capital).

The Al-Wefaq government forces entered Al-Wattia base this morning after a lightning attack, which was preceded in the past few days by intense air strikes, which resulted in the destruction of two Russian air defense systems, "Pansier", which were recently brought to the base, as well as the destruction of mechanisms and the killing of many militants.

A field commander in Al-Wefaq forces told Al-Jazeera correspondent that the militants loyal to Haftar withdrew from the base after a land attack by Al-Wefaq forces with heavy and medium weapons from more than one axis.

The Al-Wattia air base - previously known as "Uqba bin Nafi" base, which is approximately forty square kilometers - is near the "Beautiful" and "Al-Asa" regions (west of the country), and its fall is a resounding blow to Haftar after its recent loss of the cities of the West Coast.

The base is one of the largest air bases in Libya, as it includes weapons depots, a fuel station, an airstrip, a residential city, and warplanes, including Emirati drones used by Haftar forces to launch attacks on Tripoli.

The base is strategically located, as the warplanes and the path that flies from them cover the entire western regions of Libya, and can accommodate about seven thousand soldiers.

Just hours after declaring control of the base, Haftar's forces shelled with missiles the Karbouli area (east of the capital, Tripoli), killing three civilians and wounding another.

On the other hand, Colonel Muhammad Qanunu, a spokesman for the Al-Wefaq government forces announced that his government’s air force destroyed at dawn today a Russian air defense system, the third of its kind in two days, in strikes south of the seventy airport near Sirte (650 km east of Tripoli), stressing that The system was on its way to Haftar's forces.

Politically, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the National Accord Government, Mohamed El-Taher Siala, said that the reconciliation government will work to document violations of countries supporting Khalifa Haftar through weapons found at Al-Wattia base, and present them to the UN Security Council and the Sanctions Committee.

Siala stressed - in a statement - that the Sanctions Committee should shoulder its responsibilities towards these violations.

In the context, the head of the Supreme Council of State Khaled Al-Shammari said that Al-Wefaq forces are now in a better position, and considered that the countries supporting Haftar realized that the bet on him was a loser, but he made it clear that the UAE is still betting on him.

In statements to Al-Jazeera, he added that Arab countries have opened channels of communication with the Al-Wefaq government, pointing to the finding of weapons and equipment at the Al-Waya base, originating in countries such as France, the Emirates and Russia.

In a statement issued today, the Supreme Council of State in Libya called on those who had been called seduced by Haftar's forces to withdraw and return home.

He stressed that there is no political dialogue until after the elimination of the coup project, and the removal of Khalifa Haftar and his clique, which was left in the blood of the Libyans, as the statement said.

For his part, the member of the Presidential Council of the Al-Wefaq government, Mohamed Amari Zayed, warned against any political process that is circumvented by the victories of the forces of the Al-Wefaq government, and goes beyond the sacrifices of the heroes, and offered a lifeline to what he described as the war criminal Hifter and his project, and described what happened as another victory in the path of the civil state battle Against the coup and the return of tyranny.

Amari called on the countries that he said supported the coup project to abandon Haftar and review their positions, because his project is collapsing, he said.

The official called the Libyan people of the city of Tarhuna and all regions and cities of the east of the country to give up what he described as the criminal project and return to the bosom of the nation and said that the unity government is continuing to extend its control over the entire territory of Libya.