Rival Libya Govts Announce Ceasefire, Elections

Members of security forces are seen during a security deployment in Sirte, Libya August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Members of security forces are seen during a security deployment in Sirte, Libya August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
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Rival Libya Govts Announce Ceasefire, Elections

Members of security forces are seen during a security deployment in Sirte, Libya August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Members of security forces are seen during a security deployment in Sirte, Libya August 17, 2020. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori

Libya's warring rival governments announced in separate statements Friday that they would cease all hostilities and organize nationwide elections soon, an understanding swiftly welcomed by the United Nations and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The statements were signed by Fayez al-Sarraj, head of the Government of National Accord based in the capital Tripoli, and Aguila Saleh, speaker of the eastern-based parliament.

Sarraj, who heads the Presidential Council, said parliamentary and presidential elections would be held in March.

Both statements called for demilitarizing the city of Sirte and the Jufra area in central Libya, and a joint police force to be responsible for security there.

Both administrations also called for oil revenues to flow into the bank account of the National Oil Corporation outside Libya.

The announcements came amid fears of an escalation in the more than 9-year-old conflict.

The UN Support Mission in Libya welcomed both statements, and called for the expulsion of all foreign forces and mercenaries in Libya.

Among the first to react to Friday’s announcement was al-Sisi, who welcomed the ceasefire declarations.

"I welcome statements by Libya's Presidential Council and the House of Representatives calling for a ceasefire and halting military operations in all Libyan territory," Sisi said in a tweet.



Fighting Intensifies between Pro-Türkiye Factions, SDF Near Syria’s Manbij

Syrian opposition fighters secure the area near Manbij city, northern Syria, 04 January 2025. (EPA)
Syrian opposition fighters secure the area near Manbij city, northern Syria, 04 January 2025. (EPA)
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Fighting Intensifies between Pro-Türkiye Factions, SDF Near Syria’s Manbij

Syrian opposition fighters secure the area near Manbij city, northern Syria, 04 January 2025. (EPA)
Syrian opposition fighters secure the area near Manbij city, northern Syria, 04 January 2025. (EPA)

Fighting intensified on Saturday between the Türkiye-backed Free Syrian Army and the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Tishrin Dam region southeast of Manbij city in the Aleppo countryside.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Turkish jets struck SDF positions in the area, as well as in the city of Deir Hafir southeast of Manbij.

In a statement, the SDF said the pro-Türkiye factions launched a broad attack on several villages south and east of Manbij, but its forces managed to repel them.

The factions have for days been seeking to seize areas surrounding the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates River.

The SDF added that the factions, with support from Turkish drones and modern tanks, launched violent attacks on the villages of al-Atshana, Khirbet Tueni, Khirbet Zamala, al-Mastaha, Alloush and others near Manbij.

The SDF managed to repel “all attacks”, kill several members of the factions and destroy Turkish vehicles, stressed the statement.

SDF members were killed and eight others were wounded in the fighting. Fifty members of the factions were also killed, said the Observatory, which confirmed the attacks on the Manbij countryside.

The SDF has since detonated mines in the area to slow down the factions’ advance. It has also bolstered the deployment of its forces in anticipation of air strikes, added the Observatory.

The fighting has been ongoing since December when the factions seized Manbij and Tal Rifaat. Since then, neither side has managed to claim any major victory against the other or capture any territory.

Meanwhile, Turkish drones struck and damaged a power plant in the Tabaqa countryside in the western Raqqa province.

Two members of the SDF security forces were also wounded in a drone strike on the municipality building in the countryside.

Türkiye has been targeting infrastructure in the regions held by the People’s Protection Forces (YPG) - the military backbone of the SDF - in northern and eastern Syria.

Turkish artillery also targeted areas in Hasakeh. There have been no reports so far of casualties.

Elsewhere, American forces and the US-led international coalition to fight ISIS continued to send military reinforcements to areas held by the SDF.

A 20-truck American military convoy entered Syria through the Iraqi Kurdistan region and headed towards the Tal Baydar and Qasrak bases in the Hasakeh countryside on Saturday.

The Observatory said the US forces sent 13 armored vehicles, as well as fuel tankers, from these bases to Ain al-Arab, or Kobane, in the eastern Aleppo countryside to complete the construction of a military base there.