The internationally recognized government of al-Wefaq said its forces would continue to advance towards the city of Sirte until it regained control. These forces were able to recover new areas south of the city, as part of the "Paths of Victory" operation aimed at recovering all the cities and towns of eastern and central Libya, led by Sirte and Al-Jafra.
This coincides with the contacts and consultations conducted by the Libyan neighboring countries, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, with the Libyan Foreign Ministry, during which it affirmed that reaching a political solution in Libya must take into account international legitimacy decisions, while Rabat and Tunisia renewed their adherence to the Skhirat political agreement as a basic reference for dealing with the conflict.
These diplomatic developments come two days after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced, after his meeting with retired Major General Khalifa Hifter in Cairo, an initiative to solve the Libyan crisis that includes a cease-fire starting this morning.
The forces of the National Accord government announced yesterday evening that they had managed to recover the Jarif and Qubeibeh areas south of Sirte from the Haftar militia. She later referred to the restoration of the Al-Washaka area, and progress in the Bouirat Al-Hasswan area, 95 km from the city.
Raids and reinforcements
Al-Wefaq forces have strengthened their positions in preparation for the attack again on Sirte, while Haftar forces sent military reinforcements to the fighting axes in the west of the city, in conjunction with the launch of Emirati march planes belonging to Haftar raids on military vehicles belonging to the Al-Wefaq forces in the area from east of Misurata to the border Sirte.
The Anti-Terrorist Force affiliated with the Al-Wefaq government also announced the finding of a Russian mine stockpile and quantities of highly explosive TNT, as well as a military airstrip in the city of Tarhuna, southeast of the capital, Tripoli.
Sources from the island's Anti-Terrorism Force confirmed that the mines that were found are completely identical to those laid by Russian Wagner Company gunmen in residential neighborhoods, south of the capital, before their withdrawal, which are written phrases in the Russian language. The sources said that mines vary between anti-armor and mechanisms, and anti-personnel.
The Al-Wefaq government forces had launched operations towards the city of Sirte and the base of Jafra after recovering in the past days areas south of Tripoli and the city of Tarhuna (80 km southeast of the capital), and previously recovered all the cities of the West Coast and most of the cities of the western mountain.
On the other hand, Ahmed Al-Mesmari, a spokesman for Haftar's forces, said that the reconciliation government did not control a pledge of military superiority, but rather because of the failure of friendly countries he did not name.
Al-Mismari accused the reconciliation government of bringing in what he described as the Syrian mercenaries to fight against Haftar's forces in Tripoli. He said - on his Facebook page - that the Al-Wefaq government paid monthly salaries to Syrian mercenaries in exchange for their involvement in military operations, criticizing the United Nations mission to Libya, for not mentioning the recruitment of mercenaries from Syria to participate in the war against Haftar forces, in its reports.
Contacts and consultations
Politically, contacts and consultations follow about the Libyan situation and its consequences, as the neighboring countries of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco have contacted the Libyan Foreign Ministry through which they affirmed that reaching a political solution must take into account international legitimacy decisions and that the Skhirat agreement should be the basis for any political steps.
This came after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi announced on Saturday an initiative to solve the Libyan crisis that includes a cease-fire.
Russia, Jordan, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia welcomed the initiative and declared support for it, while Algeria said it "took note" of it.
On the other hand, the head of the Supreme Council of the State of Libya, Khaled al-Mashri, rejected the Egyptian initiative and the conditions it held, saying that the defeated does not impose conditions.
As for the UN mission in Libya, it welcomed the regional and international calls for a ceasefire in Libya, and called for an early resumption of the joint military committee talks between the Al-Wefaq government and the Haftar forces, which were stopped in Geneva last February.
The UN mission said - in a statement - that the political solution to the Libyan crisis is still within reach, with what it described as encouraging signs.
The call comes days after the United Nations announced that the Al-Wefaq government and Haftar's forces had accepted the resumption of the talks, which the Al-Wefaq government had not confirmed had accepted.