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Clouds of smoke rise from the plain south of the Libyan capital as troops loyal to the UN-recognized government fight to prevent an attack in Tripoli.
On the roof of an abandoned clinic, a fighter surveyed the arid landscape dotted with palm trees about forty kilometers from the capital.
"Over the airport," he says, barefoot and dressed in shorts and a black t-shirt.
The international airport of Tripoli was heavily damaged during clashes in 2014 and has not been used since, but still remains a strategic site in the battle for control of the capital.
"And here is the village of Espiaa," he added after putting a rocket launcher on the roof strewn with rounds of bullets.
Men loyal to the National Accord Government (GNA) are trying to give way to the forces of Commander Khalifa Haftar, who launched an offensive in Tripoli on April 4.
Since April 20, a coalition of militias and armed groups from Tripoli from western cities has been slowly pushing back the so-called Libyan self-proclaimed Haftar army.
Around Espiaa, which they fight to control, the air resonated with the sound of rocket fire and the constant barrage of fire.
Clouds of white and black smoke rose to the horizon, marking the spot where the strike had set the arid landscape on fire.
"Foreign aircraft"
"The!" shouted one of the fighters as the engine of a plane was heard and the men froze momentarily.
"During the day, there are Libyan planes, at night there are foreign planes, they are more advanced, more precise," he said.
The GNA accuses foreign powers – the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, among others – of providing military support to Haftar.
According to the World Health Organization, at least 345 people were killed and 1,652 injured during the Tripoli offensive.
"But planes can not stop ground fighting, and ground fighting can stop a war," said Abdulhamid, one of the leaders of Battalion 166.
The armed group of Misrata, east of Tripoli, claims to have 700 fighters and took part in the battle that drove the Islamic State group out of the city of Sirte in 2016.
They are now trying to prevent Haftar "from establishing a new military dictatorship," according to Abdulhamid.
Ahmed, dressed in combat fatigues and wearing a Louis Vuitton t-shirt, said that even though their group was from Misrata, "we also have the support of the real revolutionaries of all the cities" who fought the dictator. Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.
A young fighter said that he was coming from the Benghazi Fortress, east of Haftar, and described his family as being "on the other side" of the front.
Other men supporting the RNG come from the desert regions of southern Libya.
They use armored vehicles, vans and civilian cars – with guns coming out of windows – to transport men and weapons to the front.
Near enemy lines, pickups with back-mounted anti-aircraft guns fired back at Haftar forces – until pro-GNA fighters were suddenly forced to retreat quickly. .
Wearing sneakers or flip-flops, they sought shelter along the road as tank fire fell.
The panic disappeared when the tank fell back into silence, but some fighters struggled to hold back their tears when they realized that one of theirs had been killed. At least one other would be injured by rocket fire during the day.
But by the end of the afternoon, one of the men announced that they had finally advanced.
"We control the center of Espiaa," he said after days of fighting.
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