The Libyan National Army (LNA) has threatened Qatar and Turkey, again, of defeating them and accused them of supporting terrorism in Libya.
The threat came hours after the army confirmed downing a Turkish drone operating in favor of armed militias loyal to Government of National Accord (GNA), chaired by Fayez al-Sarraj.
Karama operations media center of the LNA announced Monday that the army’s fighter jets downed a Turkish drone that was targeting positions of LNA ground units in Wadi Alrabie, south of Tripoli.
The center added that the jets were launched from Mitiga military airbase, which represents the military part of the airport that was shelled lately and became out of service.
LNA accused Turkey and Qatar of backing the Muslim Brotherhood militias including extremists, human and fuel smugglers. This attitude is an understatement of the UN and Security Council resolutions, the army added.
Further, LNA’s War Information Division said that Ankara and Doha won’t have a place in Libya. It also pledged to respond continuously as long as these countries leaders continue to mess with Libya’s security and stability.
Sarraj’s Ministry of Internal Affairs of Libya demanded the Security Council to issue resolutions that ban shelling civil institutions, it also urged the UN to denounce any party that targets civil institutions and to add it on the international sanctions list.
The ministry added that repetitive terrorist acts have been targeting civil institutions since the beginning of the “aggression on Tripoli”, as described by the ministry. These acts occurred a minimum of 11 times against Mitiga International Airport, it revealed.
Interior Minister Fathi Bashaga chaired Monday a meeting, which was attended by Minister of Transport, the head of the Libyan intelligence service, the head of the aviation department, and several Libyan airlines companies.
The meeting discussed the condition of the airport.
Commenting on the repeated attacks, Bashaga indicated that several civilians were injured, not to mention the damage caused to some planes and the airport's facilities, including the passengers' terminal.
Further, the Embassy of Italy in Libya condemned in the strongest terms the recent attack, which injured and endangered civilian travelers, caused serious damage to the airport’s infrastructure, and seriously jeopardized the security and safety of air travel.
The Embassy stressed that these attacks must cease immediately, and reiterated that airports used by civilians are not military targets.
