Libya rules out foreign intervention to pursue terrorists

TRIPOLI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Libyan UN-backed government said on Monday that the military operation the government launched a few days ago to pursue terrorist remnants does not involve foreign forces.

"The forces that carry out this operation are the counterterrorism force with the support of air force. There are no forces of any foreign country in this operation," government spokesman Mohamed Al-Sallak told a press conference in the capital Tripoli.

"The task of those forces is to trace terrorist remnants in (the) valley and desert areas only. The operation will not include cities and populated areas." Al-Sallak added.

The spokesman pointed out that the operation continued for the second week in a row, with great cooperation from the people, stressing that the geographical scope of the operation is now totally free from any terrorists.

Last week, the Libyan government launched a military operation called Homeland Storm to pursue remnants of terrorist groups, mainly the Islamic State (IS).

The operation raised questions about possible participation of U.S. air force to support the Libyan ground troops.

U.S. air force occasionally launches air strikes on remnants of terrorists in the city of Sirte, some 450 km east of Tripoli, as well as central and south Libya. Enditem