GNA backtracking on Sirte invasion plans
Facts on the ground speak of the challenges that will face the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) on the road to the northern Libyan city of Sirte, even as the GNA keeps threatening that it will invade the city.
War of
words
Backing this argument
is the duration the GNA is taking to prepare for any move towards the northern
city. The militias of the GNA have been aspiring to invade Sirte since early
May. However, they have failed in translating these words into action so far.
Hallucinations
The Turkish
government-run Anadolu Agency attributed the failure of the GNA in invading
Sirte to the presence of advanced Russian fighter jets in the possession of the
Libyan National Army (LNA), which controls Sirte. The fighter jets, it said,
help the LNA prevent any enemy force from advancing towards the city.
It said the GNA would
not be able to advance towards Sirte without deploying an air defense system
that incapacitates the Russian jets and allows ground troops to march towards
the city.
The Qatari channel
al-Jazeera said the same thing. It said the GNA cannot capture Sirte in the
absence of an air cover.
On June 19, Egyptian
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Sirte and al-Jufra were Egyptian national
security red lines.
The Egyptian army,
Sisi said, would not allow forces from western Libya to advance towards the
central cities.
France is also
playing an important role in alerting the Europeans to the dangers inherent in
Turkish moves in Libya.
Not kidding
Egyptian analyst
Mohamed Farag Abulnour believes the Egyptian warnings had played a role in
slowing down the GNA's advance towards Sirte.
He wrote in an
article recently that Turkey would think twice before it moves towards the
central city.
