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Libya requests NATO assistance for military training, supports

Xinhua, February 17, 2017 Adjust font size:

Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord has requested military training and development for its troops, NATO revealed on Thursday.

"Any assistance has to be based on a request from the Libyan government. And this is the request we received yesterday," Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General, said in a press conference.

NATO stands ready to assist Libya in building effective security and defense institutions, strengthening its ability to fight terrorism and create conditions for peace, said Stoltenberg after meeting with head of Libya's unity government, Fayez Serraj, earlier this month in the NATO's headquarter in Brussels.

Libya's unity government has been appointed based on an UN-sponsored peace agreement signed by the country's political rivals to end the state of division and bring Libyans together. However, the country is still suffering division with three rival governments claiming legitimacy.

Assisted by the U.S. air force, the forces loyal to the government recently took over the city of Sirte from Islamic State after a seven-month war that claimed the lives of hundreds of the government's troops.

Libya suffers insecurity and chaos since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011. The country is plagued with escalating violence and political instability. Endit