No Russian troops in Libya: Kremlin

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has never ordered sending Russian soldiers to Libya, the Kremlin said on Monday.

"There are no Russian troops in Libya," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters while commenting on media reports about the funeral of a Russian soldier allegedly killed in Libya.

Libya has been locked in a civil war that escalated in 2014, splitting power between two rival governments: the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) based in the capital Tripoli and another in the northeastern city of Tobruk which is allied with the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa Haftar.

Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, France, and Russia support Haftar's LNA, while the GNA is backed by Turkey, Qatar, and Italy.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)