Forces from rival Libyan general attack base south of coast
BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) — Warplanes under the command of a rival Libyan army general have attacked an air base under the control of the U.N.-backed government in a central area south of the country's Mediterranean coast, officials said Wednesday.
In a statement late on Tuesday, the Tripoli-based government said "several" government-allied troops were wounded when an aircraft they were travelling in was struck in the attack by the eastern-based forces.
Libya fell into chaos following the 2011 ouster and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. It remains divided between east and west, with no effective government and a multitude of rival factions and militias.
Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, the military strongman in question, answers to Libya's parliament that is based in the east. That parliament is at odds with the Tripoli government, which it doesn't recognize.
Internal conflicts are escalating even as Islamic State militants have been driven out of the central coastal city of Sirte, which had been the extremist group's last bastion in the country.
The Libyan National Army, led by Hifter, said the attacks, said it hit al Jufra air base Tuesday and Wednesday, destroying a C-130 military aircraft that was carrying ammunitions and forces loyal to loyal to Misrata militias when it landed, and a militia leadership meeting, resulting in one killed and eight wounded. The militias nominally back the Tripoli government, and are believed to receive arms from Turkey.
At a news conference in the eastern city of Benghazi, army spokesman Col. Ahmed Mosmary demanded the militias withdraw from the south or face continued attacks.
In a statement on Wednesday that did not mention the attacks specifically, the U.N.'s envoy to Libya warned against the risk of escalation leading to renewed conflict in the North African nation.
"I urge all parties to act with restraint and to resolve issues through peaceful dialogue," Martin Kobler said, urging renewed efforts to find solutions to the political crisis and the Tripoli government's difficulties in exercising authority over the country.
On Monday, a prominent member of the presidential council of the U.N.-backed government resigned, citing the inability of the government to rule the country — a major blow to the fledgling body.
Last week, the deputy head of the presidential council, Fathi al-Mijabri, issued a decree to appoint one of his loyal supporters as the head of the intelligence services, stoking the ire of other members who called his move illegal.
In a separate televised news conference, also Wednesday, Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj rescinded recent decrees issued by al-Mijabri, Including all appointments of security officials, and urged the council member who resigned, Musa al-Koni, to reconsider the move.
