The Libyan National Army commanded by Khalifa Haftar has said that air forces had destroyed the main control room for Turkish drones at the military section of Mitiga airport in Tripoli.
The LNA did not provide further details.
Hours later, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed Haftar as "nothing but a pirate.”
"We hope that in a short while an opportunity for Libya to hold elections emerges and the people take the chance to represent their rights democratically," Erdogan told reporters in comments published in several local newspapers.
Meanwhile, the LNA categorically denied its involvement in deadly air strikes on a migration detention center in the Tripoli suburb of Tajoura.
The United Nations said on Thursday it had information that Libyan guards shot at refugees and migrants trying to flee from the air strikes.
Fayez al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord said it "is currently reviewing the closure of shelters and the release of illegal migrants to ensure their safety and security.”
The GNA does not have the capacity to protect migrants from air raids, GNA interior minister Fathi Bachagha said during a meeting with Maria do Valle Ribeiro, assistant to the UN special envoy to Libya.
Meanwhile, a US State Department official refused to comment when asked by Asharq Al-Awsat about reports that Washington has not endorsed a proposed UN Security Council statement to condemn the air strikes.
Unconfirmed reports said that the US failed to endorse the statement circulated by Britain after it made unannounced contacts with Haftar.
“We will not comment on closed-door discussions at the Security Council,” said the official.
During a two-hour closed-door meeting, the UK circulated the statement that would have condemned the deadly air strikes, called for a ceasefire and a return to political talks.
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