Libyan reconciliation forces launched three simultaneous attacks on the fronts of the Tripoli International Airport, the Qasr Bin Ghashir area and the city of Tarhuna, consolidating its field gains, while retired Major General Khalifa Haftar left for Cairo, amid his losses in the south of the capital.
Today, Wednesday, Al-Wefaq government forces announced the start of a battle to regain control of Tripoli Airport from the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Hifter.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in the vicinity of Tripoli Airport, Nasser Shedeed, said that violent clashes are still taking place inside the airport.
He added that Al-Wefaq forces are concentrated in the north and northeast of the airport, and until now they have controlled 30% of the airport's area, and the rest is still in the hands of the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Hifter.
The correspondent pointed out that Al-Wefaq forces launched an attack from more than one axis on Tripoli International Airport today.
A spokesman for the Al-Wefaq government forces, Colonel Mohamed Kanounou, said that the forces of the Al-Wefaq government have been able in the past two days to tighten the cordon around Tripoli airport in preparation for the battle to regain control of it.
Haftar's forces took control of Tripoli airport in the midst of the attack they have been waging since April 2019 to take control of the Libyan capital.
Hifter's forces are still holed up inside the airport, which was discharged from service in 2014, knowing that the capital relies on Maitika International Airport for civil aviation flights.
During the past hours, the forces of the Al-Wefaq government took control of Khalat bin Aoun and most of the Ramle axis, and secured the vicinity of the Yarmouk camp, south of Tripoli.
The last area
In conjunction with the airport battles, Al-Wefaq forces took control of the northern and northeastern areas of Qasr Bin Khusheir, where violent clashes take place.
Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the reconciliation forces launched violent raids and used heavy artillery in an attempt to restore full control of this area.
The Qasr Bin Ghashir area is about 26 km from Tripoli, and it is one of the main areas that Haftar forces relied on to supply its elements in the fighting axes south of Tripoli.
A military source said that Al-Wefaq forces seized weapons and ammunition after an attack on Haftar forces in Qasr Bin Ghashir Island, south of the capital, and that they succeeded in destroying a mortar company belonging to Haftar forces in the Wadi Al-Rabi'a axis.
Al-Wefaq forces announced that they had counted 48 bodies of Haftar fighters after the confrontations in the fighting hubs south of Tripoli.
Al-Wefaq forces also launch a parallel attack on the city of Tarhuna, and are trying to paralyze the Russian air defense system used by Haftar forces.
The reporter said that the attack on Tarhuna weakened Haftar's forces, and limited its ability to counter the attacks by Haftar's forces in Qasr Bin Asheer.
Five axes
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Libya quoted a military source as saying that Al-Wefaq forces opened five axes north of the city of Tarhuna, southeast of the capital, Tripoli.
The source added that Al-Wefaq forces advanced in the Al-Sharidat axis north of Tarhuna, after heavy artillery and air strikes, confirming the continued clashes in the axes of al-Shafin and Qarat Bulley and al-Quway'a, north of Tarhuna.
The source pointed out that Al-Wefaq forces monitored African mercenaries fighting alongside Haftar forces in the axes north of Tarhuna.
Over the past weeks, Haftar's forces suffered losses as a result of harsh strikes in the axes south of Tripoli, and the cities of the West Coast, all the way to the border with Tunisia, in addition to the base of the strategic patriotism.
Turkish support for the Al-Wefaq government has changed the balance of power on the ground in the face of Haftar's forces backed by Egypt, the Emirates, France and Russia.
Hifter in Cairo
To this, Egyptian media sources reported that retired Major General Khalifa Hifter arrived in Cairo today, Wednesday, to discuss developments in the situation in Libya.
Those sources said that Haftar is scheduled to meet a number of Egyptian officials to coordinate and consult on developments in the current situation in his country.
The Egyptian authorities have not officially announced Haftar's visit to Cairo or details of the meetings and files of the talks.
With the support of Russia and Arab and European countries, the Haftar militia has been waging since April 4, 2019 a faltering attack to control Tripoli, the seat of the internationally recognized government, which has left civilians dead and injured, along with extensive material damage.