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On April 23rd and in the early hours of April 24th, the fight for the Al Hira area was heavily contested between the Government of National Accord (GNA) forces and Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA).
The Facebook page of the GNA forces published pictures of their combat vehicles, in addition to a briefing on its activities on April 23rd.
#عملية_بركان_الغضب: صور اخرى تُظهر جانباً من الآليات التي سيطرت عليها قوات المنطقة العسكرية الغربية خلال تقدّمها الحاسم…
Posted by عملية بركان الغضب on Tuesday, April 23, 2019
A brief press Conference "Burkan Alghadab" Tuesday 23rd April 2019 Today, the Libyan Air Force carried out seven…
Posted by عملية بركان الغضب on Tuesday, April 23, 2019
The press briefing claimed that the UAE was supplying combat vehicles to the LNA, but despite that the GNA was actually gaining the advantage.
In the early hours of April 23rd, the GNA launched an attack on Al Hira, just to the north of Gharyan and south of Tripoli.
عاجل| مصدر عسكري لبانوراما: الجيش يشن هجوما على تمركزات قوات حفتر بمحور الهيرة أبورشادة شمال #غريان pic.twitter.com/uNkipZ2aTh
— ليبيا بانوراما (@lpc_ly) April 23, 2019
Hours later it was announced that the GNA forces had put Al Hira fully under their control. The LNA retreated to the northern entrance of Gharyan.
#عاجل | مصادر عسكرية تؤكد سيطرة قوات الجيش الليبي التابع لـ«حكومة الوفاق» على منطقة #الهيرة بالكامل وإجبار قوات #حفتر على التراجع إلى مشارف #غريان#عين_ليبيا pic.twitter.com/Lq4qonDfHW
— عين ليبيا (@EanLibya) April 23, 2019
Haftar’s forces also left destroyed military vehicles while they were retreating.
عاجل | مراسل #الجزيرة عن مصدر عسكري: قوات حفتر تركت خلفها عربات مدمرة قبل انسحابها من الهيرة شمالي غريان
— الجزيرة – عاجل (@AJABreaking) April 23, 2019
After a prolonged fight, the GNA were expelled by LNA forces in the morning of April 24th. There were also photographs provided of results of airstrikes.
#طرابلس
مقطع ڤيديو بعد دحر الملشيات من بوابة ومنطقة الهيرة وتوضيح ضربات الطيران العمودي ليلة البارحة. pic.twitter.com/rXRrhV75Us— Anis Abdalgawad (@AnisAbdalgawad) April 24, 2019
It appears that the offensive on Tripoli is being stalled, as the GNA reportedly left 30 LNA fighters dead in clashes in Southern Tripoli. According to UN data over 260 people have died in the clashes since April 4th.
عاجل| مصدر طبي من مستشفى #غريان لبانوراما: استقبال أكثر من 30 جثة من قوات حفتر سقطوا في اشتباكات جنوب #طرابلس الاثنين pic.twitter.com/bwgjr8v2jS
— ليبيا بانوراما (@lpc_ly) April 23, 2019
The LNA air force struck an area west of Tripoli, the significance is unclear, and there were no reported casualties and material damages.
https://twitter.com/lpc_ly/status/1120702374811770884
Haftar’s forces undertook another offensive in the area of Ein Zara, near the Al Istirahat Al Hamra. Tripoli.
عاجل.. اندلاع اشتباكات مسلحة في منطقة عين زارة بالقرب من الإستراحة الحمراء. #طرابلس #ليبيا pic.twitter.com/4hfRVBG6Fp
— عين ليبيا (@EanLibya) April 24, 2019
Meanwhile, possibly connected to Trump’s recognition of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the USS John C. Stennis (CNV-74) transited the Suez Canal on April 20th and is sailing towards the west in the Central Mediterranean sea.
The USS John C. Stennis (CNV-74) CSG transited the Suez Canal on April 20 and is now sailing somewhere in the central Mediterranean Sea westbound. pic.twitter.com/UocFs9QARu
— ItaMilRadar (@ItaMilRadar) April 23, 2019
The Wall Street Journal reported that the GNA had closed Zawiya, the main oil terminal in west Libya. The NOC site was completely shut down. If the report is true, that means 300,000 barrels per day from the Sharara field and 75,000 barrels per day from the El Feel field are cut off from Libya’s 1.2 million barrels per day.
The NOC chairman refused to speak at the Paris Oil Summit. Reportedly, Mustafa Sanalla’s refusal to speak was “due to what he saw as inadequate support from the French government to Haftar, according to a source close to the matter.”
An Airbus A320-212 of the Libyan private company Rahila Air (whose fleet consists of only two planes) is landing at the airport of Tripoli-Mitiga. It arrived from Istanbul.
Un Airbus A320-212 della compagnia privata libica Rahila Air (la cui flotta è composta da soltanto due aerei) sta atterrando all'aeroporto di Tripoli-Mitiga. Provenienza: Istanbul. pic.twitter.com/TvK3OigdtV
— Gabriele Carrer (@GabrieleCarrer) April 24, 2019
It is unclear what the airplane’s cargo was.
Separately, Al Jazeera reported that refugees and migrants in a detention center at the frontline between the LNA and GNA were shot at by Haftar’s forces.
The information came from an alleged Eritrean detainee who contacted the outlet via WhatsApp. At least 10 people were seriously wounded by gunfire, detainees said.
“Right now they are attacking the centre, shooting more people … They are shooting us directly,” the source said.
Paula Barrachina, a spokeswoman for the UNHCR, was cited: “We’re extremely worried about the events that happened today in Qasr bin Ghashir and we are working to find a solution to bring them to a safer location.”
Another detainee was cited as saying that fighters searched for telephones at first and that GNA authorities had attempted to move the detainees but to no avail.
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