War on terror

Libya's Haftar Forces Take Control of Entrance to Derna - Spokesman

he Libyan National Army (LNA), headed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, liberated the entrance of the city of Derna from terrorists, LNA spokesman Ahmed Al-Mismari said on Monday.

"Army has taken control of the entrance to Derna and five new positions," the spokesman said on Twitter.

Earlier in May, Haftar announced the start of a military operation to liberate Derna, which has been under siege since the overthrow of country’s longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. On May 8, a Libyan military source told Sputnik that the LNA took control of Derna’s eastern districts. Earlier this week, Haftar said that the army was nearing the liberation of Derna.

Derna is located 620 miles to the east from Tripoli and it is controlled by terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda* (terror group banned in Russia). Previously, the city was controlled by the Daesh* terrorist group, outlawed in Russia. This city is considered to be the last stronghold of Islamic militants in the east of the country, which is now controlled by Haftar's forces.