Libya’s gov’t says forces will retake capital

TRIPOLI, Libya — Libya's internationally recognised government said on Tuesday that its forces are getting ready to retake the capital, after Islamist-allied militias from the western city of Misrata took over Tripoli in August.

Prime Minister Abdullah Al Thinni's government said in a statement Tuesday that it gave orders to the government forces to "advance towards Tripoli to liberate it" and to free it from the grip of the militias. It urged youths in different neighbourhoods "to join ranks with the forces" to liberate themselves and their city. It also urged its civilian supporters to abstain from revenge attacks, and to hand over any captured militiamen to the army forces.

The militias that took over Tripoli, operating under the umbrella banner of Libyan Dawn, took control of ministries and state institutions, revived an outgoing parliament and set up their own rival government. Meanwhile, the elected Libyan parliament and Thinni's beleaguered government have been forced to operate from the distant coastal city of Tobruk. Thousands of families have been displaced from the capital and most diplomats have fled, while the airport — the centrepiece of multiple battles — has been largely destroyed.

The government’s imminent operation in Tripoli, comes on the heels of raging battles south and west of Tripoli that have devastated some neighbouring towns and villages. The village of Kikla, about 80 kilometres southwest of Tripoli, has been the centre of more than two weeks of fighting. Almost all of Kikla’s 30,000 residents have fled.

Libya has been witnessing its worst spasm of violence since the downfall of longtime dictator Muammar Qadhafi in the 2011 civil war.