TRIPOLI: Fighting at the Libyan capital's only working international airport killed at least 20 people Monday, officials said, after militiamen attacked it in an attempt to free colleagues held at a jail there.
Mitiga airport, a former military air base on the eastern outskirts of the capital, was evacuated when the clashes erupted and roads to the facility were closed.
The health ministry of Libya's UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) said 20 people were killed and 63 wounded, three of them seriously, in the clashes.
It did not specify if the casualties were civilians or fighters.
Several assailants were arrested, according to Tripoli security services run by the interior ministry.
"All the infrastructure of the military base and the airport are under control and undamaged," it said, although a resumption of flights had yet to be announced several hours later.
Mitiga has been a civilian airport since the city's main international airport was badly damaged in fighting between rival militias in mid-2014.
The North African country has been wracked by chaos since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with rival authorities and militias battling for control of its oil riches.
The airport's closure was announced after Al-Radaa, a force loyal to the GNA and tasked with keeping the facility secure, said it had come under attack.
An armed group "attacked Mitiga international airport... which is home to a prison where more than 2,500 people are detained for various" reasons, Al-Radaa said on its Facebook page.
Unidentified gunmen launched the attack in a bid "to free" some of their colleagues detained there, it said.
The GNA, in a statement, condemned "the premeditated attack on the perimeter of Mitiga International Airport... endangering the lives of passengers and the safety of civil aviation".
"This attack was aimed at the release of terrorists belonging to the Daesh and Al-Qaeda organisations and other groups from the detention centre" run by Al-Radaa, it said.
A Libyan pilot said earlier that the airport, the scene of frequent clashes between rival militias, was evacuated once the fighting broke out.
"All the staff and passengers who were at the airport were evacuated," the pilot said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We saw tanks in the airport's perimeter."
With all roads to Mitiga closed, artillery fire could be heard as far away as Tajura 30 kilometres (18 miles) east of Tripoli, AFP reporters said.
Only domestic airlines operate in the country, serving domestic routes and flights to Tunis, Egypt's Alexandria, Amman, Istanbul and Khartoum. The EU has banned Libyan airlines for security reasons.
Since the 2011 revolution, Libya has descended into political and military chaos, with militias who had fought to topple Gaddafi often turning against each other.
Libya has rival administrations, with the authorities in the east not recognising the GNA based in the capital.
Al-Radaa is loyal to the GNA and also serves as a police force in Tripoli, as well as tracking suspected terrorists and drug and alcohol smugglers.
Armed group clashes kill 20, shut airport in Libyan capital
Armed group clashes kill 20, shut airport in Libyan capital
Israeli FM urges Jews to move to Israel a week after Sydney attack
- “Today I call on Jews in England, Jews in France, Jews in Australia, Jews in Canada, Jews in Belgium: come to the Land of Israel! Come home!” Saar said
JERUSALEM: Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Sunday for Jews in Western countries to move to Israel to escape rising antisemitism, one week after 15 were shot dead at a Jewish event in Sydney.
“Jews have the right to live in safety everywhere. But we see and fully understand what is happening, and we have a certain historical experience. Today, Jews are being hunted across the world,” Saar said at a public candle lighting marking the last day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
“Today I call on Jews in England, Jews in France, Jews in Australia, Jews in Canada, Jews in Belgium: come to the Land of Israel! Come home!” Saar said at the ceremony, held with leaders of Jewish communities and organizations worldwide.
Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israeli leaders have repeatedly denounced a surge in antisemitism in Western countries and accused their governments of failing to curb it.
Australian authorities have said the December 14 attack on a Hanukkah event on Sydney’s Bondi Beach was inspired by the ideology of the Islamic State jihadist group.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Western governments to better protect their Jewish citizens.
“I demand that Western governments do what is necessary to fight antisemitism and provide the required safety and security for Jewish communities worldwide,” Netanyahu said in a video address.
In October, Saar accused British authorities of failing to take action to curb a “toxic wave of antisemitism” following an attack outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, in which two people were killed and four wounded.
According to Israel’s 1950 “Law of Return,” any Jewish person in the world is entitled to settle in Israel (a process known in Hebrew as aliyah, or “ascent“) and acquire Israeli citizenship. The law also applies to individuals who have at least one Jewish grandparent.zz
