Libyan National Army commander Khalifa Haftar ordered his troops on Thursday to march on the capital Tripoli.
Haftar made his order in a video posted online hours after his forces took full control of Gharyan, a town about 100 km south of the capital.
"To our army which is stationed at the outskirts of Tripoli. Today we complete our march ... We are going to start shortly," he said in the video titled 'Operation to liberate Tripoli'.
The capture of Gharyan after skirmishes on Wednesday with forces allied to Tripoli-based head of the Government of National Accord Fayez al-Serraj followed a rapid thrust westwards by the LNA from Haftar’s eastern stronghold of Benghazi.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is in Tripoli trying to push an international peace deal, called for restraint. He said Libya needed a political not a military solution.
Earlier on Thursday, one of Haftar's commanders said his forces had taken full control of Gharyan. "Right now as we speak I'm driving through the town," Abdelsalam al-Hassi told Reuters by telephone.
Al-Hassi also told AFP that his forces had entered the town without a fight.
After Haftar's announcement, Sarraj ordered loyalist forces to prepare to "face all threats".
His interior ministry announced a "state of maximum alert."
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