Libya's GNA says it regains control of capital Tripoli

Forces fighting for Libya's internationally recognized government said on June 4 they had regained control over Tripoli and a military source with the eastern forces that have been attacking the capital said they were withdrawing.

The Government of National Accord (GNA) military operations room said in a statement it had control over all borders of the Tripoli city administrative area.

Separately, a military source in the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) said it would complete its withdrawal on Thursday from the Tripoli districts of Ain Zara, Abu Salim and Qasr Ben Gashir towards a town near its stronghold of Tarhouna.

Pro-GNA forces said on June 3 that they had reseized the capital's Tripoli International Airport, held since 2019 by rival forces backing Khalifa Haftar, in the latest in a string of defeats for the eastern-based military commander.

"Our forces have fully liberated Tripoli international airport," said Mohamad Gnounou, spokesman for forces backing the GNA.

Libya's main civilian airport, lying on the southern edge of the capital on a key highway leading into its centre, had been closed since being heavily damaged in 2014 clashes.

Pro-Haftar forces, who launched an assault on the capital in April 2019, had captured the airport weeks later.

But their assault ground to a bloody stalemate on the edges of the city and in recent weeks, pro-GNA forces have won back a series of key locations.

Over the past two weeks, pro-GNA forces have launched major ground and air attacks, surrounding the airport area before the final assault, Gnounou said.

The operation began on June 3 morning, with drones providing air cover, Gnounou added.

Pro-GNA forces were now "chasing Haftar's militias,...