Haftar's shelling forces Libyan families to flee Sirte

TRIPOLI

Scores of families have been forced to flee their homes in Libya's central city of Sirte due to shelling by militias loyal to warlord Khalifa Haftar, according to local media.

A video aired by the private February channel showed dozens of families while leaving Wadi al-Jarf area, west of Sirte.

Earlier on Wednesday, military spokesman Mohammed Qanunu the Libyan army continued to pound positions of Haftar's militias in Sirte, a strategic city located on the Mediterranean coast between Tripoli and Benghazi.

The Libyan army has made significant military gains against Haftar's militias in recent days, capturing all the cities of west of Libya down to the borders with Tunisia.

On Saturday, the army launched a military operation to liberate cities of eastern and central Libya from Haftar's forces, one day after capturing the strategic city of Tarhuna -- the last stronghold of Haftar in western Libya.

Libya's internationally recognized government has been under attack by Haftar's forces since April 2019, with more than 1,000 killed in the violence.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara