Benghazi armed groups call for mobilisation against “foreign aggression”
Benghazi armed groups and Benghazi Defense Brigades have urged Libyans to mobilise against French and other foreign troops deployed in the country, denouncing their presence as a “glaring aggression”.
A military commander allied with a rival government based in eastern Libya has said that French troops along with US and British soldiers were in Libya to “monitor” ISIS group militants.
The extremist group seized the Libyan coastal city of Sirte in June last year, raising fears that it is establishing a new stronghold on Europe’s doorstep.
The armed groups, known as the Revolutionary Shura Council of Benghazi, urged Libyans to rise up against the deployment of foreign troops in the chaos-wracked country.
“We call on all the Libyan people to mobilise and defend their religion … and expel all foreign troops from Libya,” a statement said.
The French military presence in Libya is tantamount to a “crusader’s invasion,” it added.
Dozens of protesters rallied Friday outside the GNA’s former headquarters in a Tripoli navy base and called on authorities to boycott French firms.
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