{"id":334302,"date":"2017-07-06T07:02:11","date_gmt":"2017-07-06T07:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=334302"},"modified":"2017-07-06T07:02:11","modified_gmt":"2017-07-06T07:02:11","slug":"libya-eastern-commander-haftar-declares-benghazi-liberated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/07\/libya-eastern-commander-haftar-declares-benghazi-liberated\/","title":{"rendered":"Libya eastern commander Haftar declares Benghazi ‘liberated’"},"content":{"rendered":"
The head of the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) has said his forces “liberated” the eastern Benghazi city after years of fighting with Islamists.<\/p>\n
Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar said the city now enters a new era of “security, peace and reconciliation”.<\/p>\n
If confirmed, victory would mark a major advance for the one-time commander in the army of late strongman Muammar Gaddafi.<\/p>\n
The LNA is not recognised by Libya’s UN-backed government in Tripoli.<\/p>\n
Libya’s unrest since the 2011 ousting of Gaddafi saw extremist organisations, including so-called Islamic State, gain a foothold in the country.<\/p>\n
In a televised speech on Wednesday, Field Marshal Haftar said that “after a continuous struggle against terrorism and its agents that lasted more than three years… we announce to you the liberation of Benghazi”.<\/p>\n