Egypt's parliament on Monday authorized the deployment of troops outside the country after the president threatened military action against Turkish-backed forces in Libya.
The move could bring Egypt and Turkey, close U.S. allies that support rival sides in Libya's chaotic proxy war, into direct confrontation.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has called the strategic coastal city of Sirte a "red line" and warned that any attack on the town would prompt Cairo to intervene militarily to protect its western border with the oil-rich country.