Turkey is sending ethnic Turkish militia to support Libya’s U.N. backed government against the forces of General Khalifa Haftar, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

The militia, who have fought alongside the Turkish military in northern Syria, will reinforce the government of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj immediately, Bloomberg said, citing an unidentified official in Libya. Meanwhile, Turkey plans to deploy its navy and troops to defend Tripoli, it said.

Turkish troops will train and coordinate the military forces of al-Sarraj. The agreement follows the signing of a maritime deal between Turkey and Libya that has drawn regional condemnation from Greece and Egypt and opposition from the European Union.

The military deployments underscore Turkey’s increasing involvement in Libya and the military and political affairs of the Mediterranean region. It has also deployed drilling ships to the east Mediterranean near Cyprus in opposition to similar exploration for carbon resources by the Greek Cypriot-controlled Republic of Cyprus and several international energy companies.

The Libyan government had previously rejected the deployment by Turkey but reversed course as Haftar’s forces advanced on Tripoli, a Libyan official said, according to Bloomberg. Egypt and the United Nations support Haftar and the decision to deploy Turkish military assets could complicate international moves to resolve turmoil in the country.