Tracking Website Shows Turkish Air Bridge to Western Libya

Libyan soldiers conduct a graduation ceremony following the completion of training by the Turkish Armed Forces, Nov. 22, 2020. (AA)
Libyan soldiers conduct a graduation ceremony following the completion of training by the Turkish Armed Forces, Nov. 22, 2020. (AA)
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Tracking Website Shows Turkish Air Bridge to Western Libya

Libyan soldiers conduct a graduation ceremony following the completion of training by the Turkish Armed Forces, Nov. 22, 2020. (AA)
Libyan soldiers conduct a graduation ceremony following the completion of training by the Turkish Armed Forces, Nov. 22, 2020. (AA)

Itamilradar, a website on military aircraft tracking in Italy and the Mediterranean, has disclosed movements for Turkish military transport aircraft above the center and east of the Mediterranean towards Libya.

The website noted that it tracked two Turkish Air Force flights between Libya and Turkey. They headed towards the west of Libya in Misrata. This indicates that Turkey continues to arm its members in western Libya.

Moreover, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense announced resuming training for the Government of National Accord forces in line with the deal struck with the GNA on Nov. 27, 2019.

The training is provided by Turkish army personnel “in order to raise the Libyan army to international standards,” the Ministry tweeted.

Such developments occurred amid a crisis between Ankara and the European Union resulting from the German frigate Hamburg stopping the Turkish-flagged cargo ship, Roseline A, as part of a European Union mission called Operation Irini.

The Operation was launched by the EU to monitor and enforce compliance with the United Nations Security Council resolution which bans arms shipments to Libya.

German personnel from the Irini mission boarded the Roseline A to search for arms belonging to militias loyal to GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj.

Turkey said the inspection was carried out without its consent, and submitted a complaint to the EU.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saw this as an “aggression” that is unjustified by virtue of the international law and the law of the sea.



Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
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Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.

Heavy Israeli airstrikes killed 12 people, including five Hezbollah fighters, in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, a security source in Lebanon said, in what Israel said was a warning to the Iran-backed group against trying to re-establish itself.

The Israeli military said the airstrikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses it used to store weapons in the Bekaa Valley region of eastern Lebanon.

The airstrikes were the deadliest on the area since a US-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel last November. Bachir Khodr, governor of the Bekaa region, said seven of the dead were Syrian nationals.

Israel dealt Hezbollah heavy blows in last year's conflict, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with other commanders and destroying much of its arsenal.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday's strikes sent a "clear message" to Hezbollah, accusing it of planning to rebuild the capability to raid Israel through the elite Radwan force, Reuters reported.

Israel "will respond with maximum force to any attempt at rebuilding", he said. He added that strikes were also a message to the Lebanese government, saying it was responsible for upholding the ceasefire agreement.

There was no immediate public response from Hezbollah or from the Lebanese government to the latest Israeli strikes.

The United States has submitted a proposal to the Lebanese government aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from positions they still hold in south Lebanon.

Under the terms of the ceasefire brokered by the US and France, Lebanon's armed forces were to confiscate "all unauthorized arms", beginning in the area south of the Litani River - the zone closest to Israel.