LNA Says Set for Major Tripoli Battles After Taking Control of Roads to Capital's Airport

CAIRO (Sputnik) - The Libyan National Army (LNA) announced on Friday that it had taken control of roads leading to the Tripoli airport and was set for major battles for main areas of the Libyan capital.

The news comes a day after information surfaced that the rival Tripoli-based government has officially requested military aid from Turkey.

"The LNA is advancing after violent clashes on roads that lead to the center of the capital. The GNA retreated leaving bodies lying on the road to Tripoli airport", the LNA wrote on Facebook, as quoted by Al Arabiya.

LNA spokesman Ahmed Mismari, in turn, told the TV channel said that the next few hours would surprise all those following the developments in Libya, saying that the battle for Tripoli was ongoing.

Spokesman for the Libyan Army, Ahmed Al-Mismari: We are preparing to enter the battle of the main neighborhoods in Tripoli ... and the developments of the coming hours will be surprising to all Libyans pic.twitter.com/BqeZVLXQEe

— Mohammed Al-Khalid Kalo (@Ka9lo) December 27, 2019

The forces of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), in turn, confirmed the armed clashes in the area of the road to the Tripoli airport. The GNA, yet, stated that it had stopped the LNA from advancing toward the center of the Libyan capital.

Tensions in war-torn Libya significantly escalated back in April when the LNA, which controls the country’s east, started an offensive to seize Tripoli.

The crisis took a new turn when Turkey and the Tripoli-based government signed an agreement on military cooperation in November. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he is ready to send troops to Libya if the allied GNA asks support in the fight against the LNA.