Egypt may have deepened its involvement in the fight against Islamist militias in Libya on Wednesday, according to a new Associated Press report that Egyptian warplanes bombed the extremists' positions in Benghazi.
The two officials said the use of the aircraft was part of an Egyptian-led campaign against the militant group that will eventually involve Libyan ground troops recently trained by Egyptian forces.
The operation was requested by the internationally recognized Libyan administration based in Tobruk, the officials said, who interviewed with the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
That elected administration was thrown out of the capital by rival militias allied with Islamic political factions.
Libyan general Khalifa Hiftar is not leading the operation. Cairo will be dealing directly with a newly appointed Libyan chief of staff, who has visited Egypt several times recently. In a televised statement Tuesday, Hiftar said he will resign and transfer power to a young army leadership.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni -- who took over in an interim capacity in March after Congress dismissed Ali Zeidan -- said that all troops involved in the battles in Benghazi are under the command of the new chief of staff, and are instructed to restore state institutions and combat terrorism.
Al-Thinni met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi during his last visit to Egypt on Oct 9. During the visit, Egyptian Defense Minister Gen. Sedki Sobhi said that Egypt is ready to offer "all support" to the Libyan army -- especially in "combating terrorism."
Libyan lawmaker Tareq al-Jorushi confirmed that Egyptian warplanes are taking part in the ongoing operation in Benghazi, but that they were being flown by Libyan pilots.
However, Egyptian presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef denied that Egyptian planes were striking targets in Libya in a statement posted to Egypt's state-run news agency.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said she was not in a position to confirm the strikes.
Claudia Gazzini of the International Crisis Group explains why Libya might be heading towards a civil war. For more, watch the full episode: swissforextrading.zulutrade.com The post Libya in Crisis – Highlight appeared first on SwissForexTrading.ch. http://dlvr.it/6nYBg9
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