The forces affiliated with the Libyan National Accord government said they had detected what it called "a great terror and flight of the forces (retired Major General Khalifa) Haftar and the mercenaries from the city of Sirte", which is located in the north on the coast between Tripoli and Benghazi.
In a statement issued on Friday evening, Operation "Anger Volcano" affiliated with Al-Wefaq forces confirmed that the "notables of Sirte city have offered to hand over the city" to its forces.
Tarhuna and Bani Walid
Earlier Friday, Al-Wefaq forces seized the last major stronghold of Haftar forces near Tripoli, advanced to the south and extended control of most parts of the northwest of the country.
Operation "Berkan Al-Ghazal" said in a statement that its forces had taken control of the city of Tarhuna (90 km southeast of Tripoli) after entering from four sides and without resistance.
Later, Al-Wefaq forces also announced that they had entered the small town of Bani Walid, south of Tarhuna, and that they had looted ammunition and military equipment.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Nasser Shedeed from Tarhuna said that Al-Wefaq forces are conducting sweeping operations in the city, and that the military reinforcements are arriving at them.
Brigadier-General Salah Al-Namroush, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defense in the Al-Wefaq government, said that Al-Wefaq forces were hunting Haftar fighters who had fled from Tarhuna from the south.
International pressure
On the other hand, Ahmed Al-Mesmari, a spokesman for Haftar’s forces, said that his forces have yielded to pressure from major countries to the need for a ceasefire and the resumption of the meetings of the “5 + 5” military committee to make the political, economic and security track succeed.
Al-Mismari added in a press conference that Haftar's forces retreated 60 km "so that the capital, Tripoli, would be safe from missiles and keep the specter of war away."
The entry of Al-Wefaq forces to Tarhuna comes one day after it declared full control of the capital, Tripoli.
Operation to secure property
On the other hand, the Ministry of Interior of the Al-Wefaq government announced on Friday the launch of a process it called "Al-Balad Al-Amin", which aims to enforce security and protect private and public property in the cities it retrieved from Haftar forces in the west of the country, including a mortgage.
The Martyrs' Square in the Libyan capital witnessed celebrations of the victories achieved by the Al-Wefaq government forces, after more than a year of armed confrontations with Haftar's forces.
Participants in the celebrations raised slogans calling for the establishment of a civil, democratic state ruled by the constitution, and an end to external interference in their country's crisis.