The city has been under the ostensible rule of a powerless United Nations-sponsored unity government and under the practical control of various autonomous militias. Lines outside fuel stations stretched for 100 yards, and drivers often waited more than an hour and a half to fill up their tanks. In the most significant shift in the battle lines, General Hifter’s forces announced that they had occupied Tripoli’s defunct international airport, destroyed by fighting in 2014. One resident confirmed in a telephone interview that General Hifter’s troops had taken the area, which is less than 30 miles from the central square of the city. “We are going to see more shifting alliances, and any location you control, you might not control it for more than day,” he said, recalling the capture of General Hifter’s forces at Zawiya.

Source: New York Times April 05, 2019 21:52 UTC