Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) considers the Turkish troops in the country an occupying force and a legitimate target, the LNA's official representative, Major General Ahmed al-Mismari told TASS.
"The Turkish forces present in Libya are occupying forces, so they and their Syrian mercenaries are legitimate targets during the army's operations," he said. In fact, the war with Turkey began in 2014 and continues to this day, " the Agency quotes the military commander in particular.
Last week, Turkey accused the LNA of attacks on civilian infrastructure in Tripoli, including the Embassy of the Republic, threatening to consider the formation of Haftar a "legitimate target" for a retaliatory strike.
Earlier, the LNA stressed that the army "adheres to international conventions and does not fire at diplomatic missions in the capital", and its operations are aimed exclusively against terrorists.
In Libya, two bodies of Executive power continue to operate in parallel: the Government of National Accord (GNA) of Fayez Sarraj sitting in Tripoli and the Interim Cabinet of Abdullah Abdurrahman al-Thani, operating in the East of the country jointly with the Parliament and supported by the LNA.
The sides have been fighting for the main city of the country for a year after Haftar launched an offensive on Tripoli on April 4, 2019, in order to"liberate the capital from terrorists."
In response, the Tripoli Cabinet officially requested assistance from Turkey on the basis of a Memorandum of military cooperation signed with it at the end of November last year.
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