Libya’s LNA Shoots Down Turkish Drone in Tripoli

The Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar announced on Saturday that it has shot down a Turkish drone in Tripoli.

A member of the Military Information Division, Al-Mundhir Al-Khartoush, said that LNA-affiliated Air Force shot down a Turkish drone near Ahya Al-Baria area, south of Tripoli.

He added that the LNA’s air defense platforms downed the Turkish drone, which took off from the Mitiga military airport after trying to target sites of military units affiliated to the armed forces south of the capital.

Turkey provides significant military support to the extremist militias associated with the Al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA) by sending military advisers, soldiers, arms, or even mercenaries from Syria.

Sending drones is one of the most important weapons used by the Tripoli militias in their battles with the LNA forces.

Since the NATO-backed ouster of Moammar Qaddafi in 2011, the North African state that holds Africa’s largest proven oil reserves, has been engulfed by violence and political turmoil.

Two major rival forces are fighting each other for control: the Government of National Accord in Tripoli, which is endorsed by the UN, and one in the eastern city of Tobruk allied with Haftar. His Libyan National Army advanced on Tripoli eight months ago, where it’s become bogged down on the outskirts and has been unable to capture the city.

“Within six months after the LNA eventually captures Tripoli, the Haftar-allied government plans to conduct national elections and establish a new ruling authority,” said Eastern Libya's foreign minister, Abdulhadi Lahweej.

Sarraj, whose GNA forces are branded as terrorists by Haftar despite cooperating on counter-terrorism with the U.S. and its allies, will be “dealt with according to the law,” he said. “He has betrayed Libya by cooperating with the Turks.”