PC

The Presidential Council members, who have the capacity of the Supreme Commander of the Libyan Army, chaired on Tuesday an emergency military meeting in the presence of the Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah and the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Mohammed Haddad, military officials and commanders of the military zones in west Libya, the media office of the council said, adding that the attendees discussed the recent military developments in the western region.

The media office indicated that the meeting also went over the need for strengthening security in Tripoli and the cities of the western coast, and mechanisms for confronting outlaw groups in a way that supports and enhances stability in the western region.

The Ministry of Defense announced the end of the first phase of the military operations in the west coast region. The operations were launched by the government on May 25 against "the hideouts of fuel and drug smuggling gangs, and human and weapons traffickers."

"The results of the first phase of the operations included the destruction of seven boats used for human trafficking, six warehouses for drug dealers, weapons and equipment used by criminal gangs, and nine tanks used to smuggle fuel abroad." A statement by the Ministry of Defense said. 

Meanwhile, armed groups in Al-Zawiya and the western coast closed roads and gas pipelines to Al-Zawiya refinery in protest of the drone strikes launched by the Ministry of Defense.