The Libyan army has routed Islamic militants from a key area they controlled in the eastern city of Benghazi, Libyan army spokesperson Ali al-Mosmari said Thursday.
The army achieved another victory yesterday against the remaining terrorist groups and extremists on fronts where there has been fighting, particularly in western Benghazi in the east of the country, he added.
The army’s forces led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar are still engaged in fierce battles against remaining terrorists that are holed up in the western region of the city of Benghazi. He also pointed out that “only a little time” was needed until they took full control of Benghazi and liberated it. However, he did not give a specific date.
Mosmari said troops swept into the militants' stronghold in the city's western district of Ganfouda on Wednesday, after months of laying a tight siege on the area.
Al-Mosmari posted on Twitter: "We just freed Ganfouda."
He says dozens of civilians trapped by the fighting were liberated.
The two-year campaign to push militants out of Benghazi is led by Khalifa Hifter, who is not recognized by Libya's U.N.-backed government in the capital, Tripoli.
The battles have left Benghazi — Libya's second-largest city — in ruins but Hifter's popularity has surged.
The army’s special forces said that the resort of Tira had been liberated from defectors so that all of the west Benghazi coast is now under the control of the army’s forces.