The UN-recognized Libyan government on Sunday condemned the nighttime air strikes on a recently recaptured air base in the west of the country, saying the attack was carried out by a “foreign air force.”
Fighters loyal to the National Accord Government (GNA) seized al-Watiya air base, 140 km (90 miles) southwest of the capital Tripoli, by troops aligned with renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar in May .
Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) alleges that Turkey, a key GNA sponsor, later used the base to help GNA soldiers repel an offensive it launched against Tripoli in April last year.
Al-Watiya’s recovery marked the beginning of the sudden collapse of the LNA’s 14-month assault to seize the capital and led to its hasty retreat along the coast.
“Last night’s raids against the Al-Watiya base were carried out by a … foreign air force in support of the war criminal [Haftar] in a miserable and desperate attempt to achieve a morale-boosting victory, “GNA Deputy Defense Minister Salah al-Namrush said in a statement.
‘Unknown planes’
He promised a “response in the right place and at the right time,” saying the attacks were “a failed attempt to distract himself from recent victories” by the GNA.
Al-Namrush did not specify which foreign air force was behind the airstrike.
Citing military sources, the pro-Haftar media previously reported that the air strikes were carried out by “unknown aircraft” that attacked a Turkish air defense system installed in al-Watiya.
Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu, citing an unidentified GNA military official, said the raid against al-Watiya was carried out by “unidentified aircraft” and that there were no casualties.
“Recently deployed materials to reinforce anti-aircraft capabilities were damaged,” Anadolu reported.
Battlefield defeats
Plunged into chaos by the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed its leader Muammar Gaddafi, oil-rich Libya has two rival administrations in the west and east of the North African nation.
Haftar’s forces are backed by Egypt, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Its fighters withdrew from the southern outskirts of Tripoli and across the west of the country in June after a series of defeats on the battlefield against the Turkish-backed GNA.
Turkey’s support was vital to the GNA in rolling back the LNA offensive with advanced air defenses and drone strikes that attacked Haftar’s supply lines and troop build-up.
A Turkish source said last month that Turkey was in talks with the GNA to establish two military bases in Libya, one in al-Watiya, the largest air base in western Libya.
Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was in Tripoli to meet with the GNA on Friday and Saturday.
During its advance to Tripoli last year, the LNA was assisted by Egyptian and UAE air strikes. Last month, the United States said that Russia had dispatched at least 14 MiG29 and Su-24 fighter jets to an LNA base.
The GNA and LNA are now mobilizing forces on the new fronts between the cities of Misrata and Sirte.
Egypt warned that any Turkish-backed effort to take Sirte, which the LNA captured in January, could lead its army to intervene directly.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
.
