Flights were suspended Friday at Tripoli’s Mitiga International Airport after its perimeter was struck by three mortar shells, Libyan Airlines told AFP.
Initial investigations attribute the shelling to the Somoud Brigade led by Misrata’s hardliner, Salah Badi, and Rahbat Al Drou Brigade as they press for the release of their colleagues imprisoned by the Special Deterrence Forces (Rada).
“Mitiga international airport was targeted. Flights have been temporarily suspended because of this incident,” said Libyan Airlines spokesperson Mohamad Ghnewa.
Libyan Airlines diverted a Tripoli-bound flight from Istanbul to Misrata airport, Ghnewa said, some 200 km to the east.
Air traffic at Mitiga was suspended several times in recent months, as forces loyal to the Tripoli-based government battle against fighters backing eastern commander Khalifa Haftar who launched an offensive on the capital in early April.
Mitiga sits on a former military base on the city’s outskirts and was opened to civilian air traffic after Tripoli International Airport was severely damaged in fighting during 2014.
Only Libyan Airlines fly within the country, operating internal flights and regular connections to foreign destinations including Tunisia and Turkey.
