Warzone/The Drive: Two Su-24 Combat Jets Seen In Satellite Image Of Libyan Air Base As Air War Intensifies
Turkey sent air defense assets to Libya following the arrival of the Russian-supplied jets, underscoring growing foreign involvement in the conflict.
Recent satellite images of Al Jufrah Air Base in central Libya shows two Su-24 Fencer combat jets parked outside hardened aircraft shelters at the southern end of the base. This indicates these jets are still operating out of the base nearly a month after U.S. Africa Command released imagery showing one of them actually in flight there. This all comes amid an intensifying aerial component of the country's civil war as foreign powers, chiefly Turkey and Russia, become even more directly entangled in the fighting.
The pair of Fencer attack jets appear in imagery dated July 13, 2020, that The War Zone obtained from Planet Labs. U.S. Africa Command's (AFRICOM) image that caught an Su-24 landing at Al Jufrah was taken on June 18. Russia sent at least 14 combat jets, in total, to Libya, including both Su-24s and MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets, in May.
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WNU Editor: Turkey is claiming that these Russian aircraft are already carrying out airstrikes .... Turkish source: Russia behind airstrikes on Al-Watiya base in western Libya (Libya Observer). The Pentagon is saying that Turkey has airlifted thousands of Syrian fighters to join this fight .... Pentagon Says Turkey Sent 3,500 Syrian Fighters To Back Libyan Government (RFE). Everyone is expecting the next battle to occur here .... Libya: GNA fighters head for front as battle for Sirte looms (Al Jazeera).
