Libya Rebels Capture Key Coastal City in Threat to U.N.-Backed Government

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has become the Tripoli government's last major patron, providing armed drones, armored vehicles and, in the past week, Turkish troops. Turkish officials say their troops will act mostly in an advisory role and avoid front-line combat. But there are indications, from American officials and from videos posted on the internet, that Ankara has deployed Syrian irregulars to Libya, drawn from units that fought the Kurds in northeastern Syria last year. The increasingly prominent foreign role drew an angry rebuke from the United Nations envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salamé, who told reporters on Monday that "probably thousands" of foreign mercenaries had arrived in Libya to participate in the fight. The battle has displaced 300,000 people and caused over 2,200 deaths.