Haftar’s Army Wrestles Control Over Alasaba From GNA, Spokesman Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar has regained control over the country’s northwestern town of Alasaba, which has been recently seized by the Government of National Accord’s (GNA) troops, LNA spokesman Maj. Gen. Ahmad al-Mismari said on Monday.

"This morning, the LNA military units have managed to re-establish control over the Alasaba area after a series of airstrikes on the armed groups’ positions in the Jabal al-Gharbi district," the spokesman wrote on Facebook.

On May 21, Alasaba, southwest of the capital of Tripoli, came under the control of the GNA's military-led by Fayez Sarraj after violent clashes with the LNA as part of the GNA’s Volcano of Rage offensive.

Next day, a local source affiliated with the LNA told Sputnik that Haftar’s air forces carried out several air raids on the GNA’s positions in northwestern Libya, targeting Alasaba in particular.

Libya has been torn between the two rival administrations — an elected parliament in the country’s east, supported by the LNA, and the GNA in the country’s west — since 2011 when long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed.

In April 2019, the eastern-based LNA resumed efforts to drive the Turkish-backed GNA away from Tripoli. The GNA responded by conducting the so-called Volcano of Rage offensive.