Aviation suspended after Tripoli’s Mitiga airport comes under attack

Flights were suspended at Libya’s Mitiga International Airport in the capital Tripoli on Thursday after it was hit by shelling.

An Afriqiyah Airways flight was forced to land at the Misrata Airport due to the attack, said a statement issued by the airport.

The airport did not disclose details over any casualties or damage. However, one person was reportedly killed and another injured, local channel Ahrar TV said.

The airport is closed until further notice, it added.

Earlier on Sunday, aviation was suspended at Mitiga International Airport after forces affiliated to warlord Khalifa Haftar violated the truce reached during Eid season for the second time.

All flights were suspended until further notice as the airport came under rocket attacks, said the Facebook page of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA)-led Burkan Al Ghadab Operation.

The first violation of the ceasefire by the Haftar forces came when they targeted a neighbourhood near the airport with random rocket and artillery fires.

On July 29, Ghassan Salame, special representative of the secretary-general of the UN, offered a truce between the parties in Libya on the occasion of Eid.

Turkey and the EU also welcomed the call and voiced support for Salame’s proposal.

Early April, forces loyal to Haftar launched a campaign to capture Tripoli from forces aligned with the UN-recognised GNA.

Clashes between the two sides since then have left more than 1,000 people dead and about 5,500 wounded, according to the World Health Organisation.

Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011, when long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi was ousted and killed in a bloody NATO-backed uprising after four decades in power.

The oil-rich country has since seen the emergence of two rival seats of power: one in eastern Libya, with which Haftar is affiliated, and the Tripoli-based GNA, which enjoys UN recognition.