Turkey-backed Syrian rebels to join Libya War
So-called Sultan Murad Brigade doesn’t qualify as official Turkish deployment
Ankara: Turkey-backed rebels from Syria will soon join the internationally-recognised Libyan government’s forces in the fight against strongman Khalifa Haftar.
The ethnic Turkmen rebel groups that have fought alongside Turkey in northern Syria are expected to reinforce the government in Tripoli imminently, according to senior officials in Libya and Turkey.
The Libyan government had initially resisted the idea of such a deployment but eventually accepted it as Haftar’s forces began to advance on Tripoli, according to that administration’s official.
Help from the so-called Sultan Murad Brigade, a Syrian rebel group, wouldn’t qualify as an official deployment of Turkish forces, the other official said. Both people asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Turkey may also send its Navy to protect Tripoli, while its troops train and coordinate forces of Prime Minister Fayez Al Sarraj, according to the Turkish official.