Military sources have told Al Jazeera Net website that forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar arrived in the biggest camp of forces loyal to Osama Juweili, a former Joint Operations Room commander, in Al-Aziziyah in south Tripoli.
The sources said the forces had 600 vehicles, including a series of Kornet missiles, and 38 members of the Tariq bin Ziyad brigade that is led by Saddam Haftar. They said the forces entered into small groups with the help of the Brigade 55 commander, Muammar Al-Dawi in Warshafana district, which saw violent clashes in the past few days.
Identical sources said the forces loyal to senior leader at Tripoli Revolutionaries Brigade, Ayoub Abu Ras, who withdrew from Ain Zara in south Tripoli arrived with their armed vehicles in Al-Azizyah to be part of forces loyal to the House of Representatives-designated Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha.
Abu Ras has vowed to return to Tripoli after striking an alliance with Juweili's forces in support of Bashagha as they wait forces withdrawing from Sirte to arrive and join them, the sources told Al Jazeera.
Military sources close to Juweili in Zintan also confirmed to Al Jazeera Net that there was a mobilization in the town after his forces were expelled from their positions south and west of Tripoli, saying the forces are largely from Zintan tribes, in addition to the forces of Ayoub Abu Ras.
According to the sources, Juweili's military equipment included the Russian Pantsir systems that Haftar's forces used extensively during the period of their offensive on Tripoli.
In the last attempt to enter Tripoli, Juweili has ruled out that his forces were hit by drone strikes, saying that such an incident would change the battle radically, but a journalist in the Financial Times newspaper was recently cited as confirming that Juweili's forces were hit by about 18 drone strikes, saying they are likely linked to Turkey.