Mitiga Airport In Tripoli Closed Amid Bombardment

CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th July, 2019) Tripoli's Mitiga International Airport was temporarily closed on Thursday over artillery fire, according to the airport's Facebook page.

A source in the Libyan National Army (LNA) told Sputnik that it had opened fire at a suspicious warplane near Mitiga.

Mitiga is often closed due to shooting.

Since the overthrow and killing of Libya's long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has been gripped by conflict. Libya is now divided between two governments, with the country's eastern part controlled by the LNA, and the western part governed by the UN-backed Government of National Accord.

In April, the LNA launched an offensive to retake Tripoli from the forces loyal to the GNA. The eastern Libyan forces have already taken under its control a number of settlements on its way to the capital, including the Tripoli International Airport.