Warlord Khalifa Haftar’s militia groups, backed by Wagner and Sudanese mercenaries, launched an all-out attack in Mashrou and Yarmouk frontlines in southern Tripoli on Saturday night, but it ended in failure.
The attack was backed by sleeper cells and a wave of fake news on TV and social media pages. As the fighting began, media outlets loyal to Haftar claimed that “our forces had taken control of Abu Salim and Furnaj districts and members of Presidential Council, ministers and Turkish officers had escaped to Misrata.”
Pro-Haftar social media activists flooded Facebook with fake news and disinformation in attempt to weaken the morale of government forces and local residents of Tripoli.
Libyan government forces has managed to repel the attack and arrested a group of armed sleeper cells in Hadbah neighbourhood. The gunmen closed some streets and attempted to attack government forces from the back.
Last week, spokesperson of warlord Haftar, Ahmed Al-Mismari, claimed that their forces will enter Tripoli by the will of its sons, a day after sending an audio message to Tripoli youth urging them to turn against the Presidential Council and what he called militia leaders.
