- Title: Eastern Libyan jet makes deadly strike on rival military's plane
- Date: 4th January 2017
- Summary: BENGHAZI, LIBYA (JANUARY 4, 2017) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE BEGINNING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SPOKESMAN FOR THE LIBYAN NATIONAL ARMY, AHMED AL-MISMARI, SAYING: "The commander of the operations centre for the air force in the central region announced that the area between Brega, Sirte and south of Jufra, is a military zone that is completely shut for any type of flights, including commercial. At this moment, any flights entering this area will be destroyed directly." LIBYAN FLAG AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SPOKESMAN FOR THE LIBYAN NATIONAL ARMY, AHMED AL-MISMARI, SAYING: "Yesterday we targeted a plane carrying ammunition, weapons and fighters which took off from Misrata airport towards Jufra. It was targeted in Jufra. The plane was an American-made C-130 plane belonging to the Libyan air force. This plane was bombed by the air force after it landed in Jufra airport. The missile did not strike the plane directly but instead it struck next to the plane which left it permanently inoperable." GRAPHIC SHOWING C-130 HERCULES PLANE LANDING IN JUFRA ON MAP BEING BOMBED BY FIGHTER JET (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SPOKESMAN FOR THE LIBYAN NATIONAL ARMY, AHMED AL-MISMARI, SAYING: "The Jufra base is not part of the Bonyan Marsous, nor is it part of Misrata, or Tripoli. This base was taken over by the terrorist group al Qaeda. All of the militant recruitment that have happened, and the communication with Africa, have happened from this base, and the proof lies in the presence of the Chadian opposition who were expelled from the Tibesti Mountains, and who now reside 60 km south of this base." NEWS CONFERENCE ENDING
- Embargoed: 19th January 2017 21:48
- Keywords: Libya Benghazi Misrata Haftar strike Jufra
- Location: BENGHAZI, LIBYA
- City: BENGHAZI, LIBYA
- Country: Libya
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,International/National Security
- Reuters ID: LVA0015XO2KHZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Forces allied to Libya's eastern government carried out an air strike against a military transport aircraft in the central district of Jufra on Tuesday (January 3), wounding the head of the military council from the rival city of Misrata, officials said.
Ahmed al-Mismari, a spokesman for the Libyan National Army, gave details of the strike at a news conference on Wednesday (January 4) by declaring the area affected to be a no-fly-zone.
"The commander of the operations centre for the air force in the central region announced that the area between Brega, Sirte and south of Jufra, is a military zone that is completely shut for any type of flights, including commercial. At this moment, any flights entering this area will be destroyed directly," he said.
"Yesterday we targeted a plane carrying ammunition, weapons and fighters which took off from Misrata airport towards Jufra. It was targeted in Jufra. The plane was an American-made C-130 plane belonging to the Libyan air force. This plane was bombed by the air force after it landed in Jufra airport. The missile did not strike the plane directly but instead it struck next to the plane which left it permanently inoperable," he added.
Tension has been building in the area between the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa Haftar, and forces either from or linked to the western port city of Misrata, some aligned to the U.N.-backed government.
The two sides were in opposing military alliances that fought for control of Tripoli in 2014, leaving Libya with two competing governments. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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