This attack reportedly takes place as part of an escalation of violence on the ground in areas around Tripoli and Western Libya.
Six flights were due to take off on Monday before forces from the self-styled LNA, loyal to renegade general Khalifa Hafter who supports a rival House of Representatives (HoR) government in Tobruk, carried out the air strikes, the Libya Observer reported.
Hafter’s forces, having moved from the east of the country, have descended on the capital Tripoli and are fighting forces loyal to the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) based in Tripoli after vowing to take over western parts of Libya and to free the area of “terrorists”.
The airport has been closed down and all further flights suspended. Tripoli’s other main airport, the Tripoli International Airport, was forced to close in 2018 due to ongoing militia fighting.
The UN Support Mission in Libya’s (UNSMIL) head Ghassan Salame condemned the aerial attack on Mitiga airport in a statement. He said the attack constituted a serious violation of international humanitarian law which prohibits attacks against civilian infrastructure.
“This attack takes place as part of an escalation of violence on the ground in areas around Tripoli and Western Libya. The United Nations is deeply concerned for the welfare of the civilian population in the ongoing violence, and of the implications of the attack on the airport,” said Salame.
African News Agency
