CAIRO: Fighting between forces loyal to rival governments over Libya’s capital intensified Saturday with heavy artillery shelling hitting the sole functioning airport in Tripoli, setting jet fuel tanks ablaze and damaging passenger planes, authorities in west Libya and the UN said.
The Tripoli-based Transportation Ministry said one of the damaged aircraft had been scheduled to leave Tripoli to bring back Libyans stranded in Spain by the coronavirus lockdown. It blamed east-based forces fighting to take the capital for over a year for the attack.
Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled long-time dictator Muammar Qaddafi, who was later killed. The country has since split between rival administrations in the east and the west, each backed by armed groups and foreign countries.
Brega Petroleum Marketing Company said the shelling at Mitiga airport set its jet fuel tanks on fire. The company, which is part of Libya’s National Oil Corporation, shared footage of apparent damaged tanks while firefighters try to distinguish the fire.
Authorities had halted civilian flights at Mitiga, which is part of a military base in the capital, in March even before announcing the suspension of air travel as part of its measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Last year, eastern-based forces under military commander Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive onTripoli, clashing with an array of militias loosely allied with the UN-supported but weak government in the capital.
The UN support mission in Libya blamed Haftar’s forces for the Mitiga attack.
“Today’s heavy shelling is one in a series of indiscriminate attacks ... killing more than 15 and injuring 50 civilians since May 1,” it said. The mission said most of these attacks were attributable to Haftar’s self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces.
There was no immediate comment from the LAAF, which has repeatedly claimed that Turkey has used the airport to launch drone attacks on its forces. Tripoli authorities have denied the allegations.
The fighting over Tripoli has threatened to push Libya into a major conflagration on the scale of the 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
Libyan officials: Shelling at Tripoli’s only working airport
https://arab.news/vpef8
Libyan officials: Shelling at Tripoli’s only working airport
- Libya has been in turmoil since 2011, when a civil war toppled long-time dictator Muammar Qaddafi, who was later killed
- One of the damaged aircraft had been scheduled to leave Tripoli to bring back Libyans stranded in Spain by the coronavirus lockdown
UN presses Houthis for release of 73 detained staff as Yemen envoy holds talks in Oman
- Hans Grundberg meets in Muscat with senior Omani officials, and discusses with chief Houthi negotiator Mohammed Abdul Salam pathways for political dialogue
- The Houthis, who control much of northwestern Yemen including the capital, Sanaa, have detained UN employees and conducted raids on the organization’s premises
NEW YORK CITY: The UN said on Tuesday that extensive diplomatic efforts continue in an effort to secure the immediate release of dozens of UN staff arbitrarily detained by the Houthi militia in Yemen.
It came as the UN’s special envoy for the war-torn country, Hans Grundberg, held talks in the region aimed at reviving a political process to end the conflict.
He met senior Omani officials in Muscat on Tuesday to discuss recent developments in Yemen and the wider regional context, a UN spokesperson said. Oman has played a key mediation role during the conflict in Yemen.
Grundberg also met Mohammed Abdul Salam, chief negotiator for the Houthis, to discuss pathways for political dialogue.
The issue of detained UN staff featured prominently in the meetings. During the talks, the UN said, the envoy stressed the need to maintain momentum regarding the release of conflict-related detainees, building on discussions held in Muscat in December.
Grundberg and Muin Shreim, the UN official leading discussions about detainees, raised concerns about the continuing arbitrary detention of UN personnel and called for their immediate and unconditional release, stressing the need to respect the safety and security of all UN staff, both locals and foreigners.
“One of the main topics consistently raised in all our discussions, as you can imagine, remains the fate of 73 of our colleagues who continue to be arbitrarily detained by the Houthis, some since 2021,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.
The UN demands the immediate and unconditional release of all detained members of staff from international and local nongovernmental organizations and civil society groups, and persons who had previously worked with diplomatic missions, he added.
The Houthis, who control much of northwestern Yemen including the capital, Sanaa, have detained UN employees and conducted raids on the organization’s premises in areas under their control.
In October last year, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi accused employees of the UN and humanitarian agencies of spying for Israel and the US. The UN denies the allegations. Following the accusations, the Houthis detained several members of UN staff and seized assets belonging to the organization.
During his meetings, Grundberg reaffirmed the UN’s continuing engagement with all parties in support of efforts to ensure a return to an inclusive political process that ends the near-decade-long war, which has devastated Yemen and triggered one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
