CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th April, 2020) The Libyan National Army (LNA) headed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar will cease hostilities during the Ramadan holy month that started on April 24, LNA spokesman Maj. Gen. Ahmad Mismari said.
On Monday, Haftar announced the LNA was quitting the Skhirat agreement, which had led to the formation of the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA). He also said that the LNA was now taking control of the country.
"Amid this blessed reason [the start of the Ramadan] as well as responding to the calls of brother and friendly nations for the cessation of hostilities during this holy month, the main command of the armed forces [LNA] announces the cessation of all hostilities," Mismari said in a televised conference on late Wednesday.
He pointed out that any breach of truce by the LNA rivals would be followed by a harsh response.
The situation in Libya escalated on April 13 when Tripoli-based GNA said that it had launched a rapid offensive west of the country's capital and taken control over the cities of Sabratah and Surman. A day later, an official from the GNA's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Sputnik that Tripoli-based forces had captured the coastal area from the city of Misrata, located to the east of the capital, to the city of Zuwara close to the Tunisian border. On April 21, Chairman of Libya's High Council of State in Tripoli, Khalid al-Mishri, expressed hope that the LNA would be defeated during the Ramadan.
