The British Financial Times reported on Thursday that UN experts have launched an investigation into the dispatch of eight Russian warplanes to the revolutionary general Khalifa Haftar, commander of eastern Libyan forces.
The British newspaper assigned its information to Western diplomats, whose names were not given.
It showed that 8 Russian-made fighters were sent to Haftar from Syria.
The Financial Times said that sending these fighters from Syria to Libya may carry with him the possibility of a direct conflict between Russia and Turkey.
“This is one of the aspects of the modernization of Libya,” the Financial Times quoted a diplomat as saying, adding that “the situation in Libya is turning into a real agency war”.
Another diplomat expressed his expectation that the number of Russian fighters sent to Haftar may exceed 8.
The British newspaper pointed out that the United Arab Emirates has sent 10 thousand tons of military equipment to the Haftar forces since the beginning of this year.
UN experts are investigating sending 11,000 tons of jet fuel to the Libyan city of Benghazi since last March, according to the Financial Times.
The newspaper stressed that, although these fighters were sent to Haftar’s forces; However, his forces do not have sufficient capabilities to use these fighters.
The Financial Times added that Western diplomats believed that hundreds of mercenaries belonging to the Russian “Wagner” company were fighting within the ranks of the Haftar forces.
The British newspaper also mentioned in its news the opinion of the researcher on the Libyan issue, “Wolfram Latcher”, where he said that the goal of sending fighters to Libya was to prevent Turkey from removing Haftar forces from the west of Libya.
Latcher added, “The first thing, jet fighters will do; Bombing the Al Wattia air base (140 km southwest of Tripoli) to prevent Turkey from using it, and it will also bomb Turkish air defense systems in the capital, Tripoli, and the city of Misrata (200 km east of Tripoli).
“This will turn into a race between Turkey and Russia to ensure air superiority,” according to the Financial Times.
It is worth noting that the Libyan Minister of Interior, Fathi Pashaga, said earlier that 6 Russian-made MiG-29 fighters and two Russian-made Sukhoi-24 fighters took off from the Russian Hmeimim base in Syria and were sent to the Haftar militia in eastern Libya.
