GNA Threatens Haftar with the ICC

Part of the damage to the front of the Mitiga International Airport during the fighting in Tripoli (Reuters)
Part of the damage to the front of the Mitiga International Airport during the fighting in Tripoli (Reuters)
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GNA Threatens Haftar with the ICC

Part of the damage to the front of the Mitiga International Airport during the fighting in Tripoli (Reuters)
Part of the damage to the front of the Mitiga International Airport during the fighting in Tripoli (Reuters)

Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) Foreign Minister Mohamed Siala called on The Hague’s International Criminal Court (ICC) to take necessary measures to investigate rocket attacks on Mitiga International Airport.

Labeling the attacks a war crime, Siala accused the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Gen. Khalifa Haftar of carrying them out.

In a letter to the ICC, Siala accused LNA forces of violating international and human rights laws, killing and maiming prisoners and of attacking diplomatic missions.

In other news, the LNA boosted the number and quality of forces participating in the fight in the country’s capital, Tripoli. GNA forces, on the other hand, focused their attacks on the Okba Ibn Nafa Air Base, located west of the capital.

This is the second time in a month that the LNA dispatched reinforcements to Tripoli, where its forces have been fighting a battle to liberate the capital since April 4, 2019.

The deployment of new forces coincided with LNA Spokesman Ahmed Al-Mismari releasing a motivating voice recording to boost the morale of forces fighting on the frontlines to free Tripoli. It is the second recording in a week in which Mismari urges fighters to revolt against GNA’s Fayez al-Sarraj and Fathi Bashagha, whom he accused of treason and corruption.

Mismari also accused the GNA of selling out the country’s resources to Turkish occupation and loyalist militias.

On the ground, the battles were renewed between GNA and LNA forces on several axes inside the capital. Clashes especially erupted near the airport road south of the city.

GNA Spokesman Col.Mohammed Qanounou said that air forces targeted early Wednesday to shipments intended for LNA forces around 200 kilometers away from the capital. He also announced launching three strikes within 24 hours against LNA targets.

Local media loyal to the GNA quoted unidentified sources as saying that its forces destroyed a Russian air defense system in an air strike in the Shweref area that was on its way to Tarhuna.



Türkiye Says It Believes Kurdish Fighters Will Be Forced Out of All Syrian Territory

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Says It Believes Kurdish Fighters Will Be Forced Out of All Syrian Territory

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)
Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler takes part in a NATO Defense Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium October 12, 2023. (Reuters)

Türkiye believes Syria's new rulers, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive Kurdish YPG fighters from all territory they occupy in northeastern Syria, Defense Minister Yasar Guler said on Sunday.

Türkiye regards the Syrian YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington, and the European Union.

The YPG spearheads an alliance, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is backed by the United States and controls territory in northeastern Syria. Since the fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, Türkiye and Syrian groups it backs have fought against the SDF, seizing the city of Manbij.

"We believe that the new leadership in Syria and the Syrian National Army, which is an important part of its army, along with the Syrian people, will free all territories occupied by terrorist organizations," Guler said during a visit to Turkish troops on the Syrian border with military commanders.

"We will also take every necessary measure with the same determination until all terrorist elements beyond our borders are cleared," he said in a video released by his ministry.

Ankara has demanded the Syrian Kurdish fighters disband, and has called on Washington to withdraw its support. The US military acknowledged last week it has 2,000 troops on the ground in Syria, twice as many as it had said previously.

On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Türkiye would do "whatever it takes" to ensure its security if Syria's new administration was unable to address its concerns.