Thank you for your reading and interest in the news Libya: GNA fighters head for Sirte as battle over strategic city looms and now with detailsHind Al Soulia - Riyadh - Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) on Saturday moved fighters closer to Sirte, a gateway to Libya’s main oil terminals that the GNA says it plans to recapture from the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA). Backed by Turkey, the GNA has said it will recapture Sirte and an LNA airbase at Jufra. But Egypt, which backs the LNA alongside Russia, has threatened to send troops into Libya if the GNA and Turkish forces try to seize Sirte. The LNA has itself sent fighters and weapons to bolster its defence of Sirte, already badly battered from earlier phases of warfare and chaos since the 2011 revolution against longtime autocrat Muammar Qaddafi. On Friday, the National Oil Corporation warned that international powers were pulling the country toward an escalation likely to extend to the oil and gas facilities.

Source: Libya Today July 19, 2020 05:37 UTC