Conflicting reports from Libya on Friday evening said that the LNA had shot down a Turkish military plane south of Tripoli, the seat of the Government of National Accord (GNA). At least one report said it was a TB2 armed drone, downed after targeting a column of LNA vehicles.

On Thursday,Turkish parliament on Thursday approved the deployment of troops, advisers and equipment to Libya to prop up the GNA, the internationally recognized authority which controls only a small portion of the country. The exact scope of the deployment was not made public.

General Haftar, who runs the LNA on behalf of a rival legislature based in Tobruk, vowed on Friday to “confront and expel” foreign forces.