The army of Libyan Marshall Khalifa Haftar announced a ceasefire from midnight January 12 (2200 GMT) following calls from Moscow and Ankara for a truce.

They warned, however, in a short statement that the “response will be severe in the event of any violation of the truce by the opposing camp”, a reference to the UN-recognised government in Libya, the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Fayez al-Sarraj.

Haftar’s forces have been battling to take the capital from the GNA since April.