The army general in charge of eastern Libya has threatened to confront Italian naval ships that are heading to the Libyan coast to help stop the flow of migrants and refugees across the Mediterranean.

Italy’s parliament has authorised the country’s navy to carry out the mission but the presence of Italian ships in Libya’s waters prompted angry reactions inside the north African country.

General Khalifa Haftar, who controls most of eastern Libya, threatened to use his own forces to repel the Italians if they came into Libyan sovereign waters.

“Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, issues orders to the Libyan naval bases in Tobruk, Benghazi, Ras Lanuf and Tripoli to confront any marine unit that enters the Libyan waters without the permission of the army,” the Libyan National Army said in a statement.