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Khalifa Haftar, the renegade Libyan commander whose forces are battling to capture the country’s capital from its internationally recognised government, has announced his willingness to open dialogue after repeatedly rejecting United Nations calls for talks.
The statement was issued late on Wednesday, hours after Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj called Haftar a “war criminal” and ruled out peace talks during a speech at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
The UN warns that a crisis in the Sahel region including Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso is reaching unprecedented levels.
Intense fighting in Niger has displaced around 70,000 people.
The Libyan National Army announced Saturday that its forces have made new advances on ground in the capital, Tripoli, following what it called a “violent attack against armed militias” loyal to Fayez al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA).
LNA spokesman Major General Ahmed al-Mesmari said forces, fighting for six months to liberate Tripoli, have launched a “fierce attack on the terrorist militias in Salah al-Din area to free it and clear it of terrorist and criminal gangs.”
In central Somalia, about 5,000 Sufi fighters are signing up to join the national army.
In a surprise move two months ago, the group decided to have its fighters integrated.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army said it killed the military commander of a Rwandan rebel group whom the International Criminal Court suspected of war crimes.
Sylvestre Mudacumura of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda was killed around 5 a.m. when his camp was attacked by government forces in eastern Congo, regional army spokesman Richard Kasonga said by phone Wednesday.