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Turkey Plans to Deploy Jets in Libya’s Watiya Air Base

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, February 29, 2020. Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, February 29, 2020. Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS
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Turkey Plans to Deploy Jets in Libya’s Watiya Air Base

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, February 29, 2020. Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, February 29, 2020. Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

Ankara is setting the stage for deploying F-16 warplanes and drones at the Watiya air base, southwest of the Libyan capital Tripoli, which was captured earlier this month by militias fighting for the Government of National Accord (GNA), Turkish sources said.

The sources expected Russia, which backs the Libyan National Army (LNA) to confront Turkey that supports the GNA of Fayez al-Sarraj.

The allies of LNA Commander Khalifa Haftar are trying “to escalate the (Libyan) civil war by using new techniques,” the same sources told Turkish newspaper Habertürk.

They have been sending arms and warplanes in support of Haftar to cause further division in the country, they said.

Licenses for oil exploration granted by Haftar to Russia in eastern Libya are a sign that Moscow intends to remain in the region, the sources added.

Although Turkey and Russia will not enter into a direct confrontation, Russian fighter jets will try to diminish the military advance made by the GNA through Ankara’s support, Habertürk quoted the sources as saying.

It’s likely that non-Russian pilots will fly the warplanes sent by Russia to Libya, they added.

On Tuesday, the US military command for Africa (Africom) accused Moscow of deploying several MiG-29 Fulcrum jets and Su-35 Flankers in support of Haftar.

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MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
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MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

Medical aid agency MSF said on Friday it has been forced to suspend its activities at one of the few remaining hospitals in southern Khartoum due to repeated attacks, cutting off yet another lifeline for those who remain in the Sudanese capital.
War has been raging in Sudan since April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The hospital, which lies in territory controlled by the RSF, helped treat the victims of frequent airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as hundreds of malnourished women and children in an area where two neighborhoods have been judged at risk of famine, reported Reuters.
"In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside hospital staff and volunteers, Bashair Hospital has experienced repeated incidents of armed fighters entering the hospital with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding fighters be treated before other patients," MSF said in a statement.
"Despite extensive engagements with all stakeholders, these attacks have continued in recent months. MSF has now taken the very difficult decision to suspend all medical activities in the hospital."
The fighting in Sudan has cut off up to 80% of hospitals in conflict areas, where millions who cannot afford to escape the violence remain. Civilians face frequent air and artillery fire and hunger as supplies are blocked by both warring parties and prices skyrocket.
Medical facilities, including MSF-supported ones that have suspended operations, have frequently come under attack by RSF soldiers demanding treatment or looting supplies. Bashair Hospital has served more than 25,000 people, MSF said, including 9,000 hurt by blasts, gunshot wounds, and other violence.
"Sometimes dozens of people arrived at the hospital at the same time after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets," MSF said in the statement, citing an incident on Sunday where an airstrike one kilometer away drove 50 people to the emergency room, 12 of them already dead.