The forces affiliated to the Government of National Government, which is the legitimate government and also recognized by the UN, regained the control over Watiya Air Base previously controlled by the forces affiliated to the putschist Khalifa Haftar.
The forces of GNA, which is the legitimate government recognized by Turkey, entered a recovery process by deploying its forces in the captured areas through an operation launched on May 5, 2020 to regain control over also Watiya Air Base controlled by the putschist Khalifa Haftar. The operation relaunched on May 18, 2020 to recapture Watiya Air Base early in the morning was successful.
Watiyan Air Base located southwest of the capital Tripoli is a base where Haftar forces have deployed a number of armoured vehicles as well as mercenaries.
For a long while, the forces affiliated to the GNA had been dispatching to the region the south to the north. Although the operation was officially launched to hold sway over Watiya Air Base from the Haftar forces on May 5, 2020, progress was made in the region but the base could not be seized.
The forces affiliated to the putschist Khalifa Haftar, who had been trying to stack up in the area since the operation on May 5, were constantly hit by UMH’s heavy artillery fires and Bayraktar TB2 UAVs.
