Eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar ordered his troops on Thursday to march on the capital Tripoli, taking his conflict with the internationally recognized government to a dangerous new level.
Haftar posted his order in a video online hours after his forces took full control of Gharyan, a town about 100 km south of the capital.
His forces have arrived in the area of al-Heira, a spokesman for the force said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is in Tripoli trying to push an international peace deal, and was due to make a statement. He earlier called for restraint from all sides.
“To our army which is stationed at the outskirts of Tripoli. Today we complete our march … We are going to start shortly,” Haftar said in the video titled ‘Operation to liberate Tripoli’.