Libya airstrikes were legitimate self-defence, says Egypt FM
May 29, 2017
Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, has stressed that the military raids carried out by the Egyptian army on Libyan territories were “legitimate self-defence.”
“Those airstrikes were legitimate self-defense. Our nation will protect its national security by all means at its disposal,” Shoukry said in interview with Russia Today (RT) Arabic, referring to the Egyptian army’s air raids on suspected militant training camps in Libya.
On last week’s attack that took place in Egypt’s southern province of Minya, Shoukry affirmed that “there is irrefutable proof of connection between the targets that were hit in Libya and the events in Minya earlier.”
“We cannot allow the terrorists to stay safe and benefit from a failure of the Libyan government’s loss of control over the country’s territories, which have now turned into a safe haven and a training ground for foreign fighters and other elements, who infiltrate through the Egypt-Libyan border and attack innocent Egyptian civilians,” he added.
On Friday, Egypt launched strikes on suspected militant training camps located in the Libyan eastern city of Derna, just hours after the Minya shooting attack that targeted two buses and a truck carrying Coptic Christians.
