Turkey turning western Libya into ISIS camp

Mustafa Kamel

Turkey keeps working to stoke tensions in Libya and increase the country’s unrest, with an eye on its resources.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to turn Libyan into a gathering place for the world’s terrorists. These terrorists will function under the command of the prime minister of the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez al-Sarraj.

ISIS camp

The Libyan National Army (LNA) has accused Ankara of transferring members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to areas controlled by the GNA in western Libya.

The LNA said this after its troops arrested some internationally-wanted figures in different parts of southern Libya.

Head of the Morale Affairs Administration at the LNA, Brig. Khaled al-Mahjoub, said Turkey had already transferred 3,000 Syrian mercenaries to a special camp in Libya, including ISIS leaders.

Turkey is enlisting help from ISIS explosives specialists, al-Mahjoub said.

He accused Turkey of wanting to recreate the ISIS caliphate in Libya.

Media in Libyan capital Tripoli reported recently a massacre committed by an ISIS member in the city.

It said an ISIS member who had recently been released from GNA prisons had slaughtered the members of his family.

GNA police arrested the man after the accident, the media said.

ISIS had resurfaced in western Libya, using deteriorating security conditions there. Radio Free Europe said in a report recently that ISIS is especially present in the coastal city of Sabratah.

The ISIS militants who were kicked out of the city in 2014 are returning and controlling it gradually, the radio said.

It added that the ISIS terrorists are now on the streets of the city without fear, having gathered at two well-known camps.

ISIS and al-Qaeda terrorists work in tandem with the troops of the GNA under the command of Turkish officers.

GNA police released hundreds of terrorists from the prisons under advice from GNA top cleric (mufti) al-Sadek al-Gheriani.