Haftar Mocks Ankara by Offering to Hand Over Debris of Turkish Armored Vehicle

Arab World

March 23rd, 10:52am

Cairo - Khaled Mahmoud

Libyan National Army members in Benghazi. (AFP)

The Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Khalifa Haftar, mocked on Sunday Turkey by officially and publicly offering to hand it over debris of an armored vehicle with corpses of Turkish troops, who were manning it. LNA forces responded to an attack by Turkish forces in the capital, Tripoli, and destroyed an ACV-15 Turkish armored vehicle. “We offered the enemies the armored vehicle and corpses, but they refused to receive them, claiming those inside the Turkish vehicle are not Libyans,” LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said. The attack represented the latest violation of the humanitarian truce, which was welcomed by the United Nations and its mission to Libya (UNSMIL), to enable the country to respond to the new coronavirus outbreak. Clashes raged in a number of suburbs in Tripoli on Sunday. Residents and correspondents said they could hear the sounds of artillery and explosions in several parts of the capital, especially in Ain Zara and Salah al-Din. The Tripoli Protection Force, comprised of various armed brigades loyal to Fayez al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA), announced in a brief statement that its artillery shelled “enemy” positions in Ain Zara where the LNA was advancing. Media office of the GNA’s Volcano of Rage operation, meanwhile, announced the death of a father and the injury of two of his sons in shelling it blamed on the LNA on their house in al-Kahili area in Ain Zara. A GNA spokesman also claimed that two children were wounded by LNA shelling on their home in Bab Bin Ghashir area in Tripoli. The developments prompted Sarraj to questioned Haftar's commitment to the ceasefire. In a statement on Saturday, he said daily attacks on residential neighborhoods and civilian facilities in Tripoli are ongoing by the “aggressive militias, which caused many casualties, including children and women.”

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2194976/haftar-mocks-ankara-offering-hand-over-debris-turkish-armored-vehicle