The internationally recognized Libyan National Accord government defended its alliance with Turkey, stressing that it is taking place in an atmosphere of transparency and that it is a response commensurate with the support of countries such as the UAE, Egypt and Russia to the militia of retired Major General Khalifa Hifter.
This coincides with the announcement by the Al-Wefaq forces that its air force launched three new raids at dawn today at the Al-Wattia air base and its surroundings, in one of which was destroyed a Chinese-made airliner provided to the Haftar forces.
Al-Wefaq forces said - in a press briefing - that the other two strikes targeted aircraft, weapons and ammunition depots inside the base and resulted in the destruction of the targeted sites.
The Al-Wefaq government had announced earlier that other raids on the base of the brigade had caused the destruction of a Russian air defense system of the type "Pantzier" upon its arrival to the place.
Activists close to Haftar circulated pictures on the pages of social networking sites for the Russian air defense system's arrival at the Al-Wataya base.
On the other hand, sources said to the island that a number of armed forces of Haftar, including a military commander, were killed and others wounded in a raid by a drone plane targeting the entrance to an aircraft and weapons depot at the base.
On the other hand, seven civilians were killed in the bombing of Haftar forces on a university housing building in the Al-Farnaj area, which houses displaced people south of the capital, Tripoli.
The Al-Jazeera correspondent reported, quoting a spokesman for the Libyan Emergency Service, that fire broke out in the building inhabited by displaced people from several areas south of Tripoli, and that shrapnel fragments hit an ambulance while trying to vacate the university building from those trapped in it.
On the other hand, the Libyan Undersecretary of the Ministry of Defense, Saleh Al-Namroush, described the national reconciliation government alliance with Turkey as a reaction commensurate with the support of the UAE, Egypt and Russia to Haftar, and that it is a sovereign right that does not violate international law.
The Libyan official also welcomed the support announced by the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg, to the reconciliation government.
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A legitimate government
Stoltenberg had expressed - during contact with the President of the Presidential Council of the Government of Concord Fayez al-Sarraj - the alliance's concern about the participation of mercenaries from the Russian Wagner company to fight with Haftar's forces.
Stoltenberg stressed during the call that NATO considers the Saraj government to be legitimate and does not deal with others.
He also indicated that targeting civilians and infrastructure in Tripoli is unacceptable, and he reiterated NATO's "full" support for UN action to find a political solution to the Libyan crisis.
It is noteworthy that, since April 4, 2019, Haftar's forces have launched a military campaign to control the capital, Tripoli, where the headquarters of the internationally recognized Al-Wefaq government is located.
At the end of last April, the Libyan government considered that the Al-Wataya base was the most dangerous rule that Haftar used in his attack on the capital, and the countries that supported the retired Libyan brigade worked on being an Emirati base, similar to the "base of the servant" in Al-Marj, east of the country.