Turkey is making preparations for the possible evacuation of its citizens and foreign nationals from Lebanon, as cross-border fire between Israel and militant group Hezbollah continues there, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday.
No evacuation plan has been implemented by Turkey at this time © Mena Today
Turkey is making preparations for the possible evacuation of its citizens and foreign nationals from Lebanon, as cross-border fire between Israel and militant group Hezbollah continues there, a Turkish defence ministry source said on Thursday.
The military has the "capability and resources to carry out any mission assigned to it for the safe evacuation of our citizens or foreign nationals from Lebanon," the source said during a briefing.
"Preliminary planning and preparations for a potential evacuation operation are being made," the person said, adding Turkey had successfully completed such operations before and was closely following developments in Lebanon.
Israel widened its airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday and at least 72 people were killed, according to a Reuters compilation of Lebanese health ministry statements.
Several allies, including the United States and France, also called for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border.
Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu
A defence pact signed between Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia is technically the same as NATO's Article 5 mutual defence agreement, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Saturday, adding the accord was not targeting Iran.
US Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and James Lankford (R-OK) introduced legislation Thursday that would authorize up to $1.2 billion in security assistance to Lebanon over five years, with part of the funding conditioned on Beirut's progress toward a state monopoly on arms and the disarmament of Hezbollah.
Lebanon and Israel have agreed a shortlist of countries that could send troops to verify the disarmament of Hezbollah under a U.S.-brokered agreement, a Lebanese official said on Friday, with the United States due to pick countries from the list.
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