After 2-week hiatus, Tripoli airport resumes operations

By Walid Abdullah

TRIPOLI

The Libyan authorities on Wednesday reopened Tripoli’s Mitiga International Airport after a two-week closure due to clashes between rival armed groups.

The airport is now set to receive its first flight at 6:00 p.m. local time, airport spokesman Khaled Bu-Gharsa told Anadolu Agency.

On Sept. 12, all operations at the airport were suspended after several artillery shells fell in the area.

Since August 26, the capital has seen on-again, off-again clashes between armed groups loyal to Libya’s Tripoli-based unity government and others said to oppose it.

On Tuesday, the “Tripoli Protection Force” -- affiliated with the unity government -- assumed control of the capital’s southern districts.

Libya has remained dogged by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of long-serving President Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.

Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- and a host of heavily armed militia groups.