Libya's United Nations backed premier Fayez al-Sarraj on Thursday gave permission for air strikes to be carried out against Khalifa Haftar's forces, whom the rogue military commander ordered to advance on the capital, Tripoli on Thursday, sources told Adnkronos.
The sources said the order to carry out airstrikes was contained in one of three security decrees issued by Libya's presidential council after Haftar in a message to his troops reportedly ordered his forces to advance on the capital to clear it of militias, without firing at anyone who doesn't raise a weapon at them.
The Tripoli-based government had said that security forces in the capital were on "high alert" and condemned the threats of an armed showdown over the capital city.
"The time has come. Tripoli we are coming," Haftar's message allegedly said.
The message is said to describe the military offensive on Tripoli - where the UN-back government is based - as "victorious march to shake the lands under the feet of the unjust."
Haftar's message reportedly urged his forces to enter the city peacefully and only raise their weapons "in the face of those who seek injustice and prefer confrontation and fighting".
Libya's interior ministry on Thursday declared a state of emergency after Haftar's forces a day earlier captured the town of Gharyan, lying 100 kilometres south of the capital, from forces that had been allied to the Sarraj government, following skirmishes.
The military escalation has alarmed the UN and the US, who have called for calm, and has also worried Italian politicians of various stripes.
Libya is a former Italian colony.
