In the now weakened attack on Tripoli, General Khalifa Haftar suffered a new backhand by losing an air base - that of Watiya - conquered by the forces of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, who could thus define a "victory" as closer.
The structure, located 130 km south-west of the Libyan capital, was considered strategic by the strong man of Cyrenaica who has been trying to take Tripoli since April last year. To underline the importance of the war episode, the announcement of the capture of al-Watiya was given by Sarraj himself in a statement in which he stated that "today's success does not represent the end of the battle, but brings us closer than never to victory, when all cities and regions will be freed and the tyrannical drive that threatens democracy will be annihilated ".
Through its own sources relaunched by the media, the mix of militias and regular troops that make up the Libyan National Army of which Haftar is the general commander, has admitted a "strategic retreat" with the transfer of "all planes and weapons before abandoning the base. "
Haftar, however, while continuing to bomb Tripoli with rockets, is also under siege in its advanced headquarters in Tarhuna, east of Tripoli, and sees its supply lines very stretched because they are departing from Cyrenaica, the eastern part of Libya. .
Sarraj, Prime Minister of the government recognized by the UN, managed to counterattack thanks mainly to the support of Turkey, but also of Qatar, freeing himself from the capture of Haftar which had begun to grip the capital 13 months ago with the support of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russian mercenaries. Presa Watiya, Tripoli - and indirectly Turkey - has been able to boast control over the airspace of the entire west of Libya, where important hydrocarbon deposits exist.
