Russia Accuses Turkey of Bringing in Mercenaries into Libya

In this May 21, 2019 file photo, GNA forces clash with LNA forces, south of the capital Tripoli, Libya. (AP)
In this May 21, 2019 file photo, GNA forces clash with LNA forces, south of the capital Tripoli, Libya. (AP)
TT

Russia Accuses Turkey of Bringing in Mercenaries into Libya

In this May 21, 2019 file photo, GNA forces clash with LNA forces, south of the capital Tripoli, Libya. (AP)
In this May 21, 2019 file photo, GNA forces clash with LNA forces, south of the capital Tripoli, Libya. (AP)

Russia accused on Wednesday Turkey of bringing in foreign fighters into the North African country.

Interfax cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as making the allegation.

Libyan Foreign Minister in the East Abdulhadi Lahweej made similar charges, saying the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) was using revenues from oil to pay for thousands of mercenaries coming from Syria to help it.

The Libyan National Army (LNA) launched in April an offensive against Tripoli to rid it of criminal and terrorist militias loyal to the GNA.

Turkey and the GNA signed last year a military cooperation deal and Ankara has since sent troops and allied Syrian fighters there.

On the oil blockade in Libya, Lahweej said his government, parallel to the GNA, could not force pro-LNA tribesmen to lift the embargo that he said was a "popular decision".

"We cannot use our power to lift the blockade," he told journalists in Geneva.

He also reiterated that his side, led by LNA commander Khalifa Haftar, would not participate in political talks due to begin in Geneva on Wednesday, saying there was no agreement with the UN mission on the composition of their delegation.

"The participation for the moment is suspended," he said.

The United Nations had planned to bring together lawmakers from both sides of Libya's conflict on Wednesday to end the fighting over Tripoli as part of a dialogue encompassing military, political and economic strands.

Moreover, Lahweej took aim several times at GNA Fayez al-Sarraj, who earlier this week called Haftar a "war criminal" at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

"The war criminal is the one who accepts mercenaries to kill people and accepts pilots who kill civilians," Lahweej said.

On Sunday, the LNA said it had killed 16 Turkish soldiers in recent weeks, accusing Ankara of continuing to provide military support to militias loyal to the GNA.



Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
TT

Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus began on Saturday, Gaza's Health Ministry said, as Palestinians in both the Hamas-governed enclave and the occupied West Bank reeled from Israel's ongoing military offensives.

Children in Gaza began receiving vaccines, the health ministry told a news conference, a day before the large-scale vaccine rollout and planned pause in fighting agreed to by Israel and the UN World Health Organization. The WHO confirmed the larger campaign would begin Sunday.

“There must be a ceasefire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign,” said Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Rish, deputy health minister, describing scenes of sewage running through crowded tent camps in Gaza.

Associated Press journalists saw about 10 infants receiving vaccine doses at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

Israel is expected to pause some operations in Gaza on Sunday to allow health workers to administer vaccines to some 650,000 Palestinian children. Officials said the pause would last at least nine hours and is unrelated to ongoing cease-fire negotiations.

“We will vaccinate up to 10-year-olds and God willing we will be fine,” said Dr. Bassam Abu Ahmed, general coordinator of public health programs at Al-Quds University.

The vaccination campaign comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month. Doctors concluded a 10-month-old had been partially paralyzed by a mutated strain of the virus after not being vaccinated due to fighting.

Healthcare workers in Gaza have been warning of the potential for a polio outbreak for months. The humanitarian crisis has deepened during the war that broke out after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants.

Hours earlier, the Health Ministry said hospitals received 89 dead on Saturday, including 26 who died in an overnight Israeli bombardment, and 205 wounded — one of the highest daily tallies in months.