Fighter jets attack targets in Tripoli
Unidentified war planes have attacked targets in the Libyan
capital hours after fighters from the city of Misrata said they had seized the main airport
from a rival fighter brigade, reports Al-Jazeera.
Reuters news agency reported that Tripoli residents heard jets followed by
explosions at dawn on Saturday but no more details were immediately available.
Meanwhile,
"Egypt
categorically denies press reports that Egyptian warplanes bombarded positions
held by armed Islamist militias in the Libyan capital," the foreign
ministry said in a statement.
Libyan fighters from Mistrata have charged that Egypt and the United
Arab Emirates were behind a raid around Tripoli airport on Friday night that
reportedly killed 13 people.
Renegade general
In recent weeks Libya has seen the worst fighting
since the NATO-backed campaign to oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Renegade general Khalifa Haftar has declared war on armed
groups, which have become a cause of growing anarchy in the oil-rich country.
His forces claimed responsibility for air raids on Tripoli on Saturday and
last Monday, targeting a group called Libya Dawn.
However, this group, consisting mainly of fighters from
Misrata, said on Saturday that it had captured Tripoli 's
main airport from a rival faction from Zintan in western Libya .
In the campaign to overthrow Gaddafi, fighters from Zintan
and Misrata were comrades. But they later fell out and this year have turned
parts of Tripoli
into a battlefield.
The violence has prompted the United Nations and foreign
embassies in Libya to
evacuate their staff and citizens, and foreign airlines largely stopped flying
to Libya .
Comments
Post a Comment