Libya’s internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) said it has captured the strategic al-Watiya airbase from rival military commander Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA).
The escalation in violence comes after Haftar launched an offensive to capture the GNA’s seat, Tripoli, in April last year.
Military spokesman Mohamed Gnunu on Monday tweeted that GNA forces had taken over the entirety of the base.
Footage posted by GNA forces on social media showed them driving down runways at the base unhindered. They also posted a picture of what they said was a captured Russian-made Pantsir air defence system mounted on a truck at the b ase, as well as an operating manual in Arabic.
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In a statement, the LNA said its forces had withdrawn from the base as a tactical manoeuvre.
Al-Watiya is located southwest of the capital Tripoli, and some 25km from the Tunisian border. It was built by the United States during World War II. Its location makes it difficult for enemy forces to reach it without incurring heavy losses.
The late former dictator Muammar Gaddafi sought to expand the base. When he was toppled in 2011, Libya was divided in the two rival governments – the LNA, which is backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, and the GNA, which is supported by Turkey and allied Syrian fighters. In 2014, and shortly after pledging allegiance to Haftar, fighters from the city of Zintan overran the base.
Analysts said that, the GNA’s recapture of al-Watiya will put an end to Haftar’s hope of controlling western Libya, and will also stop Haftar’s use of the base to launch air raids that target civilians and GNA forces defending the capital.