Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Libya has ordered its largest military intervention in an
effort to repel militias.

Officials said the Tripoli government has launched the widest use of the
new North African military since the ouster of Col. Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

The officials said the military, under the command of Chief of Staff Gen. Yusef Al Mankoush, deployed throughout Tripoli in an effort to protect against police and militia attacks.

The Army operation included the introduction of heavy weapons meant to
deter attacks. Officials cited the deployment of anti-aircraft artillery and
heavy machine-guns in downtown Tripoli on May 3.

Libyan Army spokesman Maj. Hussein Al Faidi said the deployment was
meant to protect Tripoli as well as strategic facilities from attacks. Al
Faidi said the army units were also meant to assuage fears of residents of
the capital.

Over the last week, Libyan police have joined protests against the
government. Officers attacked the Interior Ministry twice in late April as
part of a campaign for promotions and salary increases.

At the same time, militias have laid siege to government ministries to
pressure the government to purge supporters of Gadhafi. The gunmen have
surrounded both the Foreign Ministry and Justice Ministry, and at one point
occupied the Finance Ministry.

Libya’s neighbor, Tunisia, has also been battling unrest, including Al
Qaida. In May, the Tunisian Army conducted several operations in the search
for a cell linked to Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb around
Mount Chambi, located the near border with Algeria.

“The situation is under control,” an army statement said.

  Al Qaida Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, Gen. Yusef Al Mankoush, Libya deploys heavy weapons in bid to deter militias, Maj. Hussein Al Faidi, Moammar Gadhafi