UPDATE – Libya’s Tripoli gov’t repels attack by Haftar forces

ADDS CONFIRMATION BY PRO-HAFTAR SOURCE, BACKGROUND</p> <p>By Walid Abdullah</p> <p>TRIPOLI (AA) – Libya’s UN-backed government on Friday retook a strategic checkpoint outside Tripoli shortly after it was captured by forces loyal to military commander Khalifa Haftar, a security source told Anadolu Agency.</p> <p>“Government forces have retaken Security Gate 27 [west of the capital], where they managed to capture 20 pro-Haftar military personnel,” a source from the government’s Presidential Guard told Anadolu Agency anonymously due to restrictions on speaking to media.</p> <p>Shortly afterward, a high-level pro-Haftar source, speaking to Anadolu Agency anonymously due to the issue’s sensitivity, confirmed the security source’s assertions, but said as many as 30 soldiers had been captured near Tripoli.</p> <p>Libyan activists, meanwhile, have shared photos online purporting to show the capture of pro-Haftar soldiers by forces loyal to the Tripoli government.</p> <p>On Thursday, Haftar — who is affiliated with a rival government based in the eastern city of Al-Bayda — formally announced the launch of operations to seize control of the capital.</p> <p>“Today we continue the struggle and answer the calls of the people of Tripoli,” Haftar said in a recorded message posted on his media office’s Facebook page.</p> <p>Shortly afterward, Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Tripoli-based government, ordered the government’s security forces to “prepare for — and respond to — any threats aimed at destabilizing the region”.</p> <p>The order came following reports that Haftar had deployed forces to western parts of the country — including positions near Tripoli — with a view to “purging the region of terrorist groups and strongholds”.</p> <p>Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of President Muammar Gaddafi after four decades in power. </p> <p>Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power: one in the eastern city of Al-Bayda, to which Haftar is linked, and the UN-backed government in Tripoli.