Tripoli, Dec 22 (TIWN) Libya's east-based army has seized a Grenada-flagged ship with a Turkish crew off the Libyan coast.

"A vessel under the flag of Grenada, with a team of Turkish citizens on board, was detained," the army's press service was quoted by local media as saying.  The eastern forces stopped the ship and questioned three crew members with Turkish passports, said the reports. And it was not clear right now what the ship was carrying.  The news comes amid growing cooperation between Ankara and Tripoli. 

The UN-backed government of Libya on Thursday decided to activate two security memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed with Turkey on Nov. 27.  One of the two MoUs is a maritime boundary deal that covers areas also claimed by Greece.  Turkey's parliament on Saturday passed a security and military cooperation deal signed with the UN-backed Libyan government. 

General Khalifa Haftar, commander of the eastern-based army, declared recently the launch of the final stage of the military campaign in and around the Tripoli, ordering his troops to further advance into the city.