Having lost the capital city’s lone functional airport in southern Tripoli over the weekend, the Libyan unity government decided to carry out airstrikes, bombing the airport. In the fighting that followed, they recovered the site.
While they say they now recovered the airport from the Libyan National Army (LNA), it’s not clear what condition it is in. Officials say they didn’t target civilian aircraft that were stored at the airport, which despite being nominally operational has been closed for the most part for years.
The LNA said that the only plane targeted at the airport was an old MiG airplane parked at the site. The Health Ministry in Tripoli claims at least 25 people, including civilians, were killed int he course of the fighting.
The LNA has been pushing into the southern suburbs of Tripoli since the weekend. Fighting is continuing, and international calls for a temporary truce so far don’t seem to be getting much support.
Wait. This country isn’t a bastion of democracy by now?