{"id":59616,"date":"2020-01-24T10:42:34","date_gmt":"2020-01-24T02:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=59616"},"modified":"2020-01-24T10:42:35","modified_gmt":"2020-01-24T02:42:35","slug":"libya-reopens-tripolis-mitiga-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=59616","title":{"rendered":"Libya reopens Tripoli’s Mitiga airport"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Mitiga<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mitiga airport <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haftar started an offensive in April to seize Tripoli from the United Nations-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mitiga airport authorities said late on Wednesday they were suspending air traffic “until further notice” after Haftar’s spokesman threatened to attack planes flying over the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Any military or civilian aircraft, regardless of its affiliation, flying over the capital will be destroyed,” warned Haftar’s spokesman Ahmad al-Mesmari, adding that such flights would be considered a violation of the ceasefire in place since Jan 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al-Mesmari said the GNA was using the airport for military purposes as a base for Turkish soldiers sent by Ankara in its support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey has backed the GNA, deploying troops to Libya since early January under a controversial November deal with the Tripoli-based administration. Ankara also signed a maritime agreement with the GNA that saw Turkey claim extensive areas of the Mediterranean Sea to be explored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier on Wednesday, the airport had suspended flights for several hours after it was targeted by six rockets in an offensive the GNA blamed on its rivals in Libya’s five-year civil war, and called a “flagrant threat” to the safety of air traffic. The attack took place just nine days after the facility reopened following a truce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resumption of shelling on the airport and renewed threats by Haftar put the truce brokered by Russia and Turkey on shaky ground, as diplomatic efforts to halt the long-running civil war intensify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haftar’s offensive on the capital has threatened to plunge Libya into chaos rivalling the 2011 conflict that led to the removal and killing of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi. — NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mitiga airport 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[213],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59616"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59616\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}