Rogue general claims upper hand in war against 'terrorists'

Speaking to Mary Fitzgerald in The Guardian, former army general Khalifa Haftar has announced his renegade forces have "broken the backbone of our enemies".

He says his "Operation Dignity" will be completed in six months, although he angled for external military help by saying aid could reduce the time needed for victory: "if we receive military supplies from friendly countries the time will be less," he told The Guardian, suggesting that suspected military supplies from Gulf States and Egypt has not materialised as yet. "We have not asked Egypt to conduct air raids in Libya, but if we need this we will ask for it without any hesitation," he added.

Haftar is leading a military campaign against "terrorism" in Eastern Libya. His non-government "National Army" attacked the restive city of Benghazi on 16 May, killing at least 79 people, and has been labelled an outlaw by the government who accuse him of attempting a coup.

He pledged to scale down his offensive to allow for the elections to take place and there are yet to be any reports of violence taking place during the early hours of voting today.