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Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Fighting broke out in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on January 15 and at least 20 people have been reported killed so far. The fierce clashes have shut down the airport as artillery barrages have damaged planes.
According to the Libyan government, the fighting is the result of a failed attempt to spring militants from a nearby prison.The fighting pitted the Special Deterrence Force (Rada), one of thecity’s armed groups, against a rival faction based in Tripoli’sTajoura neighborhood.
Rada acts as an anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit and controls Mitiga airport and a large prison next to it. It is aligned with the GNA and is occasionally targeted by rivals whose members it has arrested.
Reports out of the country have automatic gunfire and artillery rounds heard from the city center early in the day and authorities at Mitiga airport, which operates all civilian air traffic to and from the capital, said flights had been suspended until further notice.
A Reuters report said one Airbus A319 operated by Afriqiyah Airways was sitting in a hangar at Mitiga with a hole in its roof from artillery fire. Reuters also reported that at least four other aircraft suffered what appeared to be lesser damage from gunfire, including two jets operated by Libyan Wings and two Buraq Air Boeing 737s that the airline said it was preparing to fly out of the country for maintenance.
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