Government of National Unity Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dabaiba, in his capacity as Minister of Defense, accused the former director of the Military Intelligence Department, Osama al-Juwaili, of the military build-up in the capital.

This came in a statement issued by the Ministry of Defense Information Office on Thursday evening.

The ministry said that it is following up on "attempts to mobilize the military for a war driven by a partisan political agenda," carried out by Osama al-Juwaili, who is still the commander of the Western Military Region under the Presidential Council.

The statement added that a military group affiliated with al-Juwaili toured an area adjacent to one of the camps it occupies, "threatening a number of citizens from the capital, before returning to where it came from."

The statement added that this “came after his attempts to mobilize for war and launch assaults on the government and public headquarters".

The Ministry of Defense affirmed, "It will deal firmly and forcefully against these threats to quell sedition," praising the position of all Libyan regions, without exception, that refuse to ignite the fuse of war, strife and fighting.