The militarization process of east Libya is in full swing as elected mayors are being dismissed and replaced by military officers loyal to Khalifa Haftar's Dignity Operation.

On Tuesday, the self-proclaimed military governor of east Libya, Abdelraziq Al-Nathori, sacked Shahat mayor Idriss Abdullah and replaced him with Brigadier Saleh Obidallah, the fifth dismissal in about a month.

Local sources said Al-Nathori aims to replace all elected mayors with military officers in the regions under the control of Dignity Operation.

In August, Al-Nathori sacked Benghazi mayor and appointed Colonel Ahmed Araibi instead.

Ajdabiya mayor Salem Jodran was next in the dismissal list. He was replaced by Embarek Al-Minfi. Ten days later, Al-Nathori fired Al-Kufra mayor and replaced him with Colonel Saleh Al-Zarrouq who later apologized and was replaced by Mabrouk Ghazawi.

Last week, Al-Nathori sacked newly appointed Abyar mayor Fathallah Gotrani and replaced him with Brigadier Salem Rafadi.

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