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On January 28th, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar only controlled the desert areas of Libya.
He further said that Turkey monitors the LNA’s attempts to capture the populated areas and Ankara would do whatever is necessary to counter their offensive.
عاجل | أردوغان: نراقب حاليا محاولات حفتر للاستيلاء على مزيد من الأراضي في ليبيا وسنقوم بما يلزم لإيقافه. pic.twitter.com/XUgqeYopSL
— ليبيا بانوراما (@lpc_ly) January 28, 2020
He alleged that Russian soldiers, with funding from the UAE was making the LNA’s offensive possible.
عاجل | أردوغان: حفتر المدعوم بالمرتزقة من روسيا وتمولهم أبوظبي يسيطر فقط على المناطق الصحراوية ولا يسيطر على المناطق المأهولة بالسكان. pic.twitter.com/ef3tYJrH9j
— ليبيا بانوراما (@lpc_ly) January 28, 2020
Around the same time Erdogan made his claims, reports began surfacing of Turkish navy warships in the Libyan exclusive economic zone.
Oliver Hazard Perry-class derivative frigate off the coast of Tripoli.
Probable Turkish Navy. https://t.co/NFrV6AfVhh
— Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) January 28, 2020
Update: ???? Turkish vessels recently operating in the #Libya EEZ are the G-class frigates F496 TCG Gökova, F497 TCG Göksu, F490 TCG Gaziantep, F495 TCG Gediz and the Akar-class A595 TCG Yarbay Kudret Güngör.
Credit ; @MaritimeSecuri1 pic.twitter.com/mMPthhT5Tg
— SaitErguven (@SVErguven) January 29, 2020
Turkish Navy escorting roro-cargo ship ⬇️ to port of Tripoli .
Credit ; @LibyaPro2 pic.twitter.com/pzQr5PbGRD— SaitErguven (@SVErguven) January 29, 2020
The Turkish Navy was delivering some sort of undisclosed cargo, with a roro-cargo ship, which was escorted by frigates.
Despite the presumed no-fly zone established by the LNA over Tripoli, a Turkish Boeing 747 ER-BBJ departed Istanbul en route to Libya, it is possible that this is filled with more militants or equipment, (since the 747 ER-BBJ is a cargo plane), being delivered to fight on behalf of the UN-assigned Government of National Accord (GNA).
Aerotranscargo Boeing 747 ER-BBJ departed #Istanbul en route to #Libya pic.twitter.com/q6B8hjcX68
— Manu Gómez (@GDarkconrad) January 29, 2020
It is likely that the GNA forces gain a second wind in some areas, since reinforcements reached the Al Qurain and Al-Washaka areas, which the LNA has been attempting to push in the last few days.
The GNA downed a UAV, and it reported that it was a LNA one, but the LNA denied, saying that they accidentally targeted and shot down a Turkish UAV over Misrata.
#عاجل عمليات الكرامة: ميليشيات #مصراته تسقط طائرة تركية بالخطأ وتدعي انها طائرة مسيّرة لقواتنا #ليبيا pic.twitter.com/irJuLg2y2f
— قناة ليبيا الحدث (@libyaalhadathtv) January 28, 2020
The significant part is that the UAV, according to photos was shot down by a surface-to-air battery, and not by any anti-UAV measure.
#Libya– video purportedly showing the downing of the #UAE/#LNA Wing Loong UAV east of #Misrata by #GNA air defense.
Video is important for showing it was done with some sort of SAM and not counter-UAV measures https://t.co/7YLwYDNYOU pic.twitter.com/4CtpuutHQV
— Oded Berkowitz (@Oded121351) January 28, 2020
There are little reports of the activity of the LNA in recent days, but the attempts to push west of Sirte and south of Tripoli are on-going, but currently most propaganda is being pushed out of the GNA and Turkey.
https://twitter.com/mhisen_mohamed/status/1221818664581771265
