Libyan army launches new military operation to liberate southern

The Libyan army launched a large-scale military operation, on Monday night, under the title of "Moving Sand" aimed at liberating the entire southern Libyan region. The General Command of the Libyan army, led by Khalifa Hafter, ordered the commander of the 12th Battalion, to move to fight the armed militias in the southern region. 

The forces that will participate in Moving Sand operation, include the 116th Infantry Battalion, 121 Light Infantry Battalion, 181 Infantry Battalion, the Fifth Squadron, the Six Squadron, and Sabha Squadron.

In Tripoli, The UN Secretary General Special Envoy to Libya Martin Kobler on Monday warned that the escalating violence in Libya threatened a widespread conflict, urging all parties to the conflict, to put Libya and its unity and territorial integrity first.
 
 In a statement from Tunisia, Kobler said 'the escalation across Libya was the result of security situation in Tripoli, and the events in Misrata and Benghazi, as well as violence and hate speech and mutilation of bodies in Libya are unacceptable at all.

 He also stressed the need to restore calm, and respect for elected bodies and freedom of expression, mobilization of forces, hostile actions and hate speech are acts that constitute real threat which could lead to wide scale military confrontation in the country. He appealed to Libyans to commit to the political agreement and to speed up the security arrangements which call for withdrawal of armed groups from the capital and deployment of army and police units.

On the other hand, The President of the Presidency Council of the Government of National Accord Fayez Al Serraj, on Monday, attended in the Italian capital, along with the Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentelone the conference of Euro-North Africa Contact Group on Migration From Libya. The GNA Foreign Minister Mohamed Siala, and the foreign Ministers of France, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Germany, Algeria, Tunisia and representatives of Switzerland and the European Commission also attended the conference.

"Now there must be very significant investments," Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti told reporters after the meeting. "There's a total and absolute commitment to do this."
 
"Migrant flows to Italy unfortunately continue to increase," added EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos. "If there's one country under huge pressure, it's Italy," he added.
 
Rescuers picked up about 3,300 migrants from rubber boats off the coast of Libya on Sunday. Boat arrivals to Italy have surged about 50 percent compared to the same period last year.

Libyan naval forces rescued 420 illegal immigrants aboard four rubber boats, in the Mediterranean in the hope of reaching Europe, in the last 48 hours.