‘You have lost your bet’: Haftar and his backers defeated in battle for Libya’s capital

But it is still too soon to declare an end to the war over Tripoli, Borzou Daragahi reports

GNA fighters celebrate in the Qasr bin Ghashir district south of Tripoli (AFP via Getty)

In a major turn of events in a war that has killed more than 1,000 civilians, the internationally recognised government in Libya announced on Thursday that it had taken full control of the capital, dealing a significant, though perhaps not yet decisive, defeat to a renegade military commander.

It quickly followed the Tripoli-based government’s recapturing of the airport, a severe and symbolic blow for Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar and his backers in the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt and Russia.

“On this blessed day and after one year of blatant attacks on Tripoli by militias and their supporters, we bring to you the news of the liberation of Tripoli and its surrounding areas a few hours ago in a huge battle,” said Fayez al-Serraj, prime minister of Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA), following a meeting in Ankara with the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.