Fri 20 December 2019:
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who came to power following a military coup in Egypt, is set to deploy tanks to forces of Libya’s east Commander Khalifa Haftar, who is attempting to advance on Tripoli.
According to a report by The Middle East Monitor, which quoted Egyptian officials, Cairo has approved sending Russian-made war tanks to Haftar, who is constantly attacking the UN-recognized government of Tripoli.
Egypt’s military aid to war criminal Haftar comes after Turkey’s President Erdoğan agreed to deploy troops to Libya’s legitimate government if it made such a request, following a military and maritime deal struck between the two allies.
Egypt will “temporarily” deploy the tanks in a bid to avoid the UN anti-armament resolution, according to the report.
Following the conclusion of the battle and the achievement of Haftar’s goals, he is set to return them to Egypt.
The U.S., Russia, United Arab Emirates, Chad and Sudan are also among the countries endorsing Haftar’s fight against the Government of National Accord (GNA).
In April, Haftar’s forces launched a military campaign to capture Tripoli from the GNA but have so far failed to progress beyond the city’s outskirts.
According to UN data, over 1,000 people have been killed since the start of the operation and more than 5,000 injured.
Since the ouster of late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: one in eastern Libya supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and another in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
