<p>By Walid Abdullah</p> <p>TRIPOLI (AA) – Libya’s UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) on Thursday claimed to have wrested the strategic Tamanhint airbase from forces loyal to renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar.</p> <p>On its official Facebook page, the GNA’s Southern Protection Force said it had taken control of the airbase, which is located some 30 kilometers (roughly 19 miles) east of the city of Sabha.</p> <p>The reported gain comes amid a counteroffensive by pro-GNA forces aimed at stopping an ongoing campaign by Haftar to capture Tripoli, where the GNA is headquartered.</p> <p>Following two weeks of intermittent fighting on the capital’s outskirts that have left scores dead, Haftar’s forces — affiliated with a rival government based in eastern Libya — have so far failed to capture the capital.</p> <p>Libya has remained beset by turmoil since long-serving leader Muammar Gaddafi was ousted and killed in a bloody NATO-backed uprising in 2011. </p> <p>Since then, the country has seen the emergence of two rival seats of power: one in eastern Libya, to which Haftar is affiliated, and another in Tripoli, which enjoys UN recognition.</p>
