On Friday, the LNA said its air defences had shot down a drone launched by the GNA near Tripoli, adding that the drone had been produced in Turkey. At a press conference in Benghazi on the same day, Mismari said that Turkish drones had been used in the recent GNA operation to recapture the strategic city of Garyan to the south of Tripoli from the LNA.
"[LNA Commander Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar ordered] to close Libya’s skies for Tripoli-bound Turkish civilian planes," Mismari said at the press conference, adding that Libyan airplanes were also banned from flying to Turkey.
Moreover, the LNA forces had been ordered to attack Turkish ships crossing into Libya’s waters, Mismari added.
The LNA has been engaged in an operation to regain control over Tripoli, where the GNA is based, since April. The UN-backed GNA, in its turn, has launched a counteroffensive.