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Intel: Libya’s Hifter threatens to meet Turkey’s forces ‘with bullets’

Eastern Libya’s Gen. Khalifa Hifter vowed to fight Turkey’s forces as Libya’s Government of National Accord is poised to press its counteroffensive against the key coastal city of Sirte with Ankara’s military support.

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Vehicles of the Tripoli Brigade, a militia loyal to the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), parade through Martyrs' Square at the center of the GNA-held Libyan capital Tripoli on July 10, 2020. — MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP via Getty Images

Eastern Libyan strongman Khalifa Hifter has vowed to fight Turkey’s forces as the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli is poised to press its counteroffensive against the key coastal city of Sirte with Ankara’s military support.

In an Eid al-Adha address to his forces over the weekend, Hifter — who is launching an insurgency backed by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, France and Russia — likened Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s military support for the GNA in Libya to colonial occupation, accusing Erdogan of “coming to Libya in search of his ancestors’ legacy,” Saudi Arabia-based Arab News reported.

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