Libya’s Mitiga Airport in Tripoli announced Wednesday the suspension of flights until a further notice and redirecting the flights to Misrata Airport starting Thursday.
On Wednesday afternoon, the spokesman for Libya’s Army Mohammed Gununu has said that Khalifa Haftar’s militias have shelled Mitiga Airport in Tripoli with six Grad rockets so far this afternoon in a direct threat to air traffic.
In the wake of the shelling, the management of Mitiga Airport suspended flights and work temporarily as Haftar’s militias attacked the airport in a new violation of the ceasefire in Libya, which was agreed on in Moscow and then Berlin.
Mitiga Airport is the only operational civilian airport in Tripoli and is used by hundreds of thousands of people for travel. Haftar’s militias have been attacking the airport with airstrikes and shelling over the nine months as part of their attack on Tripoli.
After a long suspension due to the recurrent attacks by Haftar’s militias, Mitiga Airport reopened its doors and resumed flights on January 12 as both the Government of National Accord and Haftar announced commitment to the ceasefire.
On January 04 alone, Haftar’s militias targeted the airport with over 20 rockets, which made the management decide to shut it down and redirect all flights to Misrata Airport.
In last October, the Head of the UNSMIL Ghassan Salame said in a presser that he made sure Mitiga Airport was a civilian one without any military presence, saying any attacks on it will be considered war crimes.