This is the first such announcement since Ankara sent troops to back the Government of National Accord in Tripoli.

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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself announced the death of his soldiers in Libya, adding that there were Syrian National Army troops alongside them reinforcing a military co-operation  treaty signed between Turkey and Libya.

Last months Berlin summit that agreed hostilities should stop on Libya so that the political peace process  could take place has evidently broken down.

Rebel leader Khalifa Haftar, backed by Russia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, claims to have killed at least 16 Turkish troops as he defends advances his forces have made in capturing Tripoli.

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This comes as Turkish troops move into the capital Tripoli to support the United Nations backed Government of National Accord.

Situated 450 kilometers east of Tripoli, Sirte was liberated from the Islamist State rebels in 2016.

It is the hometown of dictator Muammar Gaddafi whose fatal overthrow in 2011 has plunged Libya into chaos.

The GNA has not confirmed the loss of Sirte, which was announced by rebel leader Khalifa Haftar in the city of Bhengazi on Libya’s eastern border.

With Turkey moving troops in to protect the GNA and its interests in the eastern Mediterranean, Arab fears of a proxy war in Libya look more and more likely. 

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The opposition backs the Arab League contention that Turkish intervention would aggravate the conflict in Libya and destabilize the region.

But the government has a strong enough majority to ensure lawmakers approve putting Turkish boots on the ground in Tripoli.

President Reccep Tayyip Erdogan says he wants to honour a strategic treaty he has signed to support  the Libyan government when it’s attacked.

He also wants to protect Turkish economic interests in Libya and the eastern Mediterranean.

The Tripoli government is threatened by Russian-backed rebel leader Khalifa Haftar whose fighters have twice kidnapped Turkish sailors.

Turkey’s initial plans are to send non-combatant advisors.

Analysts believe fighting men will soon follow.

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They say United Nations and African Union condemnation of rebel general Khalifa Haftar won’t stop him as long as he enjoys international support.

Khalifa Haftar broke a UN-sponsored truce over the Muslim holiday of Eid Al Adhar to attack Tripoli’s only serviceable airport.

The civilian death toll from four  drone and rocket strikes by Haftar’s forces has exceeded  100 this past month.

More than a 1000 people have been killed by his forces trying to gain control of Tripoli.

The United Nations back the government of national accord opposing him.

However Haftar is emboldened by support from Egypt’s Abdel Fattah El Sisi and US President Donald Trump.

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The European Union has condemned the attack and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

Khalifa Haftar’s so-called Libyan National Army launched a drone strike on a migrant centre in Tripoli in June that killed at least 44 people.

Yesterday’s target appears to have been a meeting of more than 200 local dignitaries in the  southern city of Marzuq.

Local authorities have appealed for humanitarian aid, saying the hospital is unable to cope with the more than 60 seriously injured people.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is being urged to withdraw his support for Haftar. 

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As more details follow the international condemnation of the air strike on migrants being held in Libya, it has emerged that guards fired on refugees trying to escape the carnage.

At least 170 people have been hurt in what UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame says is probably a war crime.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has deplored the attack and called for an independent investigation with a view to bringing the culprits to book.

Militia fighting for warlord Khalifa Hafar have been blamed for the incident.

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The rebel Libyan National Army denies it mountain the airstrike that wounded more than70 people.

The dead migrants were housed in a hangar on the outskirts of the capital that also the site of military camps billeting troops loyal to the United-Nations-backed government of national unity.

Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army is trying to seize Tripoli.

Last week it kidnapped Turkish sailors supporting the national government but released when Turkey threatened military retaliation.

The attack highlights to plight of African migrants returned to Libya after unsuccessfully trying to escape fighting and poverty in Africa by crossing the Mediterranean into Europe

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The follows a threat by the Turkish security forces to attack the rebels and anyone threatening their ships or interests.

It is not clear when and how rebel leader Khalifa Haftar’s  militiamen kidnapped the  Turkish sailors.

The Libyan rebel leader, bent on taking the capital Tripoli, is angered by Turkey’s support for the internationally-recognized Libyan army, threatening  military action.

A statement from Ankara called the abduction thuggery and piracy by illegal militia forces and vowed to retaliate in the most effective and strong way to rescue their nationals.

The sailors have rejected an offer to go home and opted to continue their duties in Libya

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At least five other heads of government will join deliberations on Africa’s two most troubling issues.

It’s in his capacity as rotating chair of the African Union that Egypt’s President Abdelfattah El Sisi has called the summits.

AU commission chair Moussa Faki will be there along with the Presidents of Chad, Djibouti, Rwanda, DRC and Somalia.

Five more African countries are sending foreign ministers or special advisers.

On Sudan they’ll consider how best to back stability and peace following the coup ousting Omar Al Bashir easier this month.

With rebel-led fighting around Tripoli, the African leaders will seek ways of dealing with the Libyan crisis and eradicate the terrorism fueling the conflict.

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It is not immediately clear if they are using drones, as they this past week, or whether they’ve acquired new warplanes replacing the aging Russian fighters salvaged from Muammar Gadaffi’s airforce.

The airstrikes and rocket assault on Tripoli has escalated the death of civilians now approaching 300.

Rebel leader Khalifa Haftar, now endorsed by US President Donald Trump who has turned his back on the UN-backed government, believes he can control Tripoli, with the oil and financial reserves within days.

Libyan authorities have closed the small city airport, leaving Misrata 200 kms east of Tripoli has the only functioning facility.

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