Intel: Libya’s Hifter threatens to meet Turkey’s forces ‘with bullets’
Eastern Libya’s Gen. Khalifa Hifter vowed to fight Turkey’s forces as Libya’s Government of National Accord is poised to press its counteroffensive against the key coastal city of Sirte with Ankara’s military support.
Eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Hifter has vowed to fight Turkey’s forces as the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli is poised to press its counteroffensive against the key coastal city of Sirte with Ankara’s military support.
In an Eid al-Adha address to his forces over the weekend, Hifter — who is launching an insurgency backed by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, France and Russia — likened Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s military support for the GNA in Libya to colonial occupation, accusing Erdogan of “coming to Libya in search of his ancestors’ legacy,” Saudi Arabia-based Arab News reported.
“We tell him that we will translate the legacy of your ancestors with bullets,” Hifter said, promising “no mercy because they do not deserve mercy.”
Why It Matters: Hifter has vowed to resist the Tripoli-based government’s counteroffensive in recent months, but his appeals to anti-colonial sentiment come as Saudi Arabia is seeking to unify Arab neighbors in support of the eastern Libyan commander.
