Fears of revenge attacks as rebel general’s forces flee last stronghold in western Libya
Renegade Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar abandoned his last remaining stronghold in the country’s west in the early hours of Friday, raising fears of reprisal attacks against civilians deemed to be his supporters.
The loss of the city of Tarhuna 40 miles southeast of the capital, Tripoli, marks an end to Mr Hafar’s ill-fated 14-month campaign to conquer the country’s densely populated northwest.
The infamous Kaniyat militia that was Mr Haftar’s local affiliate in Tarhuna fled with minimal fight, allowing forces loyal to the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) to take control.
Video footage showed GNA fighters collecting military vehicles and other hardware left by Haftar’s departing forces. Another posted to the Facebook page of the GNA’s military showed fighters embracing residents of Tarhuna, and cars honking their horns in celebration.
Libyan officials said their next aim was to retake the central coastal city of Sirte from Haftar, target the Jufrah airbase in the country’s desert south and seize control of southern oil fields under Mr Haftar’s control.
“Our battle continues and we are determined to extend state control over all the territory of Libya,” Fayez Serraj, prime minister of the GNA, said in a statement.
But there were also growing fears of looting and revenge attacks in the city of at least 13,000 and rural nearby villages home to thousands more.
Tarhuna was a stronghold of the late former Libyan dictator Muammer Gaddafi, and relations between the town and the Islamist-leaning government in Tripoli have been strained since the 2011 uprising that felled the former regime, and the town has long been allied with Haftar.
In a brief sent to journalists on Friday, Amnesty International warned of a pattern of retribution as towns change hands in Libya with both the GNA and Mr Haftar’s Libyan Arab Armed Forces accused of war crimes following military victories.
The report cited witnesses and videos confirming the looting of homes in towns west and south of Tripoli taken by the GNA from Mr Haftar in recent weeks. It also cited residents alleging Mr Haftar’s loyalists placing landmines and booby-trapped bombs as they withdrew from civilian areas last month.
“Civilians in Libya are once again paying the price as all parties escalate retaliatory attacks and other grave violations showing utter disregard for the laws of war and lives of civilians,” Diana Eltahawy, of Amnesty, said in a statement, urging both sides’ backers in Ankara, Moscow and Abu Dhabi to rein in their Libyan proxies.
Local reports and witness accounts suggested that many residents of Tarhuna and their families were fleeing 60 miles away to the city of Bani Walid, which has also served as a Haftar stronghold, for fear of revenge attacks by GNA fighters that have been branded terrorist militias by UAE and Saudi-funded media outlets.
Libyan armed forces loyal to the GNA publicly warned fighters they would face “the most severe penalties” if they carried out any “reprisals, theft or vandalism” against Tarhuna residents who may be seen as sympathetic to Mr Haftar.
Civilians in Libya are once again paying the price as all parties escalate retaliatory attacks and other grave violations showing utter disregard for the laws of war and lives of civilians
Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty
The withdrawal marked the latest in a string of stinging defeats for Mr Haftar following the robust intervention of Turkey on behalf of the GNA earlier this year.
Mr Haftar, a 76-year-old former CIA asset backed by Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and France, was reportedly in Cairo, conferring with his patron and mentor President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi over possible next moves.
