Libya

TRIPOLI, Jan 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Libya’s internationally recognised government said on Thursday that it had reopened Mitiga, Tripoli’s only functioning airport, following almost a day of closure after rockets were fired towards it.

Mitiga, just east of central Tripoli, has repeatedly come under attack in recent months, forcing airport authorities to halt flights for several hours.

The eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), led by renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, said on Wednesday that it had shot down a Turkish drone in southern Tripoli.

23 Jan 2019; MEMO: Forces loyal to Libya’s renegade commander Khalifa Haftar Wednesday declared Libya’s capital of Tripoli and its surrounding areas as a “no-fly zone” and threatened to hit civilian planes, Anadolu reports.

23 Jan 2019; MEMO: A report issued by the Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, revealed on Tuesday that the army of eastern Libya, led by Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar, carried out 850 airstrikes with drones, in addition to 170 jet strikes, including 60 precision-guided raids by foreign fighter aircrafts.

23 Jan 2019; MEMO: Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) yesterday suspended air traffic at the Mitiga airport in the capital Tripoli after it was struck by missiles.

22 Jan 2019; MEMO: The US Embassy in Libya yesterday called to “immediately resume” oil production after forces loyal to renegade General Khalifa Haftar shut down major oil fields and pipelines.

“We are deeply concerned that the suspension of National Oil Corporation (NOC) operations risks exacerbating the humanitarian emergency in Libya and inflicting further needless suffering on the Libyan people. NOC operations should resume immediately,” the US embassy said on Twitter.

20 Jan 2019; MEMO: The head of the Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya has called for the deployment of an international force in case renegade General Khalifa Haftar resumes hostilities. Fayez Al-Sarraj made his comment on the eve of a summit in Berlin yesterday aimed at re-launching the peace process, reports Arabi21.

20 Jan 2019; MEMO: Children in Libya are still suffering greatly amid the violence and chaos resulting from the country’s long civil war, a senior UNICEF official has warned. Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore made her comments in a statement issued a day before the start of the Berlin Conference on the situation in the North African state.

TRIPOLI, Jan 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Forces loyal to Libyan military commander, Khalifa Haftar, blocked oil exports from the war-ravaged country’s main ports, on the eve of an international summit, aimed at bringing peace to the North African country.

DAMASCUS, Syria, Jan 20 (NNN-SANA) – As many as 2,400 Turkey-backed Syrian rebels, have so far reached Libya, to fight against the east-based army, led by Khalifa Haftar, a war monitor reported, Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, 1,700 fighters are preparing to fight, while 24 fighters had been killed in the battles in Libya.

These fighters were sent there to join the forces led by the UN-backed government.

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — A move by Libya’s east-based forces to choke off oil exports from its territory threatens to throttle much of the country’s oil production, the national oil corporation said Saturday, escalating tensions ahead of an international peace summit to end the civil war.