WASHINGTON/TRIPOLI, April 20 (Newswires) -- Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Libya's capital, Tripoli, on Friday after US President Donald Trump praised Libya's Khalifa Haftar amid a military assault by the renegade general to seize the capital.

On April 4, Haftar and his forces launched an offensive against the country's internationally recognised government.

In their phone call, Trump "recognised Field Marshal Haftar's significant role in fighting terrorism and securing Libya's oil resources, and the two discussed a shared vision for Libya's transition to a stable, democratic political system."

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke over phone with Libyan army commander Khalifa Haftar on Monday, discussing "ongoing counterterrorism efforts," said the White House on Friday. The two also discussed the need to achieve peace and stability in Libya and the war-torn country's "transition to a stable, democratic political system," according to a White House statement. The White House did not explain why it released the statement days after the phone call took place. The east-based army, led by Haftar, has been leading a military campaign since early April to take over Libya's capital city of Tripoli where the UN-backed government is based.

A total of 213 people have been killed and 1,009 others injured in the fighting between the Libyan government and the east-based army in and around Tripoli so far, the World Health Organization said Friday. Libya has been struggling to make a democratic transition amid insecurity and chaos ever since the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011.