Leader of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar has vowed to defeat militias and put a stop to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plans in the country.
LNA spokesman Major General Ahmed al-Mismari announced that the Army will not stop until liberating Tripoli and defeating extremists, criminal militias, mercenaries, foreign fighters, and Turkish invaders.
He warned foreign troops that they are running low on time and the LNA will not stop until the “extremist Erdogan’s project” has been terminated.
Mismari announced that LNA’s air defenses downed a Turkish ‘Bayraktar’ Mini Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), south of Tripoli.
Meanwhile, head of the Government of National Accord Fayez al-Sarraj accused the LNA of firing hundreds of rockets at residential neighborhoods in the vicinity of Mitiga airport. The rockets also reached the airport and damaged its facilities.
"The forces of war criminal (Haftar) fired more than a hundred rockets and missiles at residential areas in the center of the capital Tripoli Saturday", the GNA said in a statement.
Sarraj said the government has no choice but to respond to the aggression.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry announced that the strikes targeted its interests, including representative offices in Libya, warning that it will consider Haftar’s elements as a legitimate target.
However, LNA said that Turkey has set up a military airbase in Mitiga airport, despite GNA’s denial. Civil aviation has been suspended at the airport for about two months due to repeated bombardments.
Operation Volcano of Rage announced that three people were killed and 12 others injured, including three children, in LNA’s attacks. It indicated that the airport was also damaged.
The Operation announced that since the beginning of Ramadan, over 34 people have been killed and more than 80 wounded, including women and children. It also noted that the attack destroyed a number of the city’s infrastructure and homes.
In addition, Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) announced that fuel tanks at Tripoli’s Mitiga airport were targeted in the attack, causing a large fire.
The NOC statement indicated that four tanks were directly hit and completely burnt, while six others were extensively damaged.
Videos and images shared from the scene showed plumes of black smoke near the airport.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) strongly condemned the increased attacks on civilian populated areas in Tripoli, including the shelling on Tripoli’s Zawiat al-Dahmani neighborhood, near the Turkish embassy and the Italian ambassador’s residence, which reportedly killed at least two civilians and injured three others.
UNSMIL will continue to document violations to be shared, where relevant, with the Panel of Experts and the International Criminal Court, it said.
Unlike previous statements, UNSMIL did not call on parties to end all clashes and resume the political process.
