ANKARA (Somaliguardian) – At least 25 Somali and Libyan soldiers were killed on Sunday in a clash over unspecified dispute in a military base located in the western Turkish city of Isparta.
The incident follows rising tensions between Somali and Libyan soldiers who have recently received a commando training in Turkey and is the first deadly clash between the two sides since Turkey began offering military trainings to Libya and Somalia national armies.
The Fight broke out at Temaş Military Barracks in Isparta after a Libyan soldier reportedly stabbed a Somali course mate. Local media reported that 300-400 soldiers got involved in the deadly skirmish as the two sides exchanged blows using metals, knives and other types of weapons.
The soldiers have received a commando training at a military academy in the middle of Isparta mountains and have been reportedly bound for their countries within a few weeks.
Turkish local media reports say a number of critically injured soldiers have been taken to Isparta’s main hospital immediately after the brawl. More than 20 soldiers are said to have been wounded in the fight and many have later died of their injuries.
As the skirmish intensified at Temaş Barracks on Sunday, the windows of a vehicle belonging to a Turkish colonel in charge of the base were smashed as he tried to intervene to bring an end to the deadly blows exchanged by Somali and Libyan soldiers at the camp, ajansspor website reported.
Turkish military officials have yet to brief media about the deadly clash, the first of its kind to be reported since Turkey began training foreign troops, mainly Somalis, Syrians and Libyans to use them as proxies to expand its influence across different geographic regions in Africa and the Middle East.
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