Egypt will help fight terrorism

TRIPOLI -- Egypt will provide more help to Libya's government to fight terrorism and curb the Islamist insurgents, the prime ministers of the two states announced in Cairo on Wednesday.

Libya's Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni and his ministerial delegation arrived in Cairo on Wednesday and headed to talk with the Egyptian leaders. After the meeting, Thinni announced that the two countries has decided to have a deeper security cooperation.

Thinni said Egypt has agreed to train Libya's pro-government forces who have been battling against the rival Islamist armed groups. He also expressed deep concerns over Islamist militants controlling most parts of Libya.

"Terrorism must be faced with strength and power. It requires building and training armies capable of confronting these terrorists," said Thinni.

Libya has witnessed growing waves of violence since the 2011 turmoil that toppled the country's former leader Muammar Gaddafi. Over the past few months, violence flared up in different cities in Libya since the Islamist militants has mounted deadly attacks on pro-secular militias as well as national armies.

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi confirmed that Egypt is stepping up efforts against Islamist insurgents in both countries. Sisi said that some of the Libyan and Egyptian Islamist armed groups have established connections and posed major threat to the border between the two counties.

Since Sisi removed the Muslim Brotherhood from power last year, some of their militants has committed more attacks on Egyptian soldiers and policemen.

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