Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati expressed relief on Sunday over the measures undertaken by the Lebanese army to control the situation in the northern city of Tripoli, stressing that all officials fully support the military in its actions.

Miqati called in a statement issued by his press office the army command to intensify the measures in the Tripoli to comfort the citizens in the northern city, which image was tarnished by the absurd battles.

Rebel commanders said their fighters captured the town of Bir Ghanam, 80 kilometers south of the Libyan capital, on Saturday.

An Agence France Presse correspondent, although he did not visit Bir Ghanam, was with the several hundred fighters as they advanced north on a road strewn with burned-out vehicles of the Libyan army, some with bodies of dead soldiers inside.