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Turkish detainees set free in Libya after ultimatum

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Turkish detainees set free in Libya after ultimatum

Six Turks detained in Libya by forces loyal to Commander Khalifa Haftar have been released, Turkey’s foreign ministry said on Monday.

This came in a day after Turkey warned that the Libyan militia would become a legitimate target unless they were released immediately.

On June 30, the Turkish Foreign Ministry demanded that Haftar’s illegal militia which calls itself the Libyan National Army LNA, immediately release the six Turkish citizens they had detained in Libya or otherwise, face becoming a legitimate target of the Turkish military.

Read also: At least 16 killed as bomb blast rocks Afghan capital Kabul

Al Jazeera said the men, who were released at the Sidr airport in Ajdabiya city, west of Benghazi, worked on a ship owned by a Libyan citizen.

Libya has been plagued by turmoil since 2011 when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the overthrow and death of President Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.

Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power — one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli as well a host of heavily armed militia groups.

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