(For more stories on unrest in the Middle East, click on EXTRA <GO>.)
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- An alliance of Islamist militias said it wrested control of Tripoli’s international airport from a rival militia in a battle that threatens to plunge Libya deeper into chaos.
The announcement by Fajr Libya, or Libya Dawn, came hours after warplanes struck Islamists near and around the airport, killing at least 13 people and wounding 30 others, the independent Al Nabaa television reported. It wasn’t clear who was behind the airstrike, the second of its kind in about a week. Libya Dawn blamed Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
The statement on the group’s Facebook page said its “lions” charged the airport and “entered its halls and it’s been completely cleansed of all criminals.” The Islamist group’s spokesman, Mohamed Ghariani, told Al Nabaa that the militia are in control of most locations in Tripoli, including the Interior Ministry near the airport. The claims couldn’t be independently verified and the government had yet to comment.
The more than month-old battle pits the Islamist-dominated grouping, led by fighters from the coastal city of Misrata, against a militia from the Zintan region and its allies. The Zintan militants, who have been in control of the airport since the 2011 ouster and killing of Muammar Qaddafi, is allied to renegade General Khalifa Haftar, who had been battling Islamists in the eastern city of Benghazi.
Threatened Anarchy
The fighting has battered Libya, stymied efforts to revive oil output in the OPEC member and undercut hopes for a transition to democracy. It has sparked concern the nation, led by a largely toothless central government, will descend into anarchy and emerge as little more than a failed state controlled by militias.
Libya’s neighbors -- Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt -- are boosting security along their borders. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry denied it was behind the airstrike, while condemning the reported execution of an Egyptian man. The man was shown in a video posted on Youtube being shot in a stadium in the eastern Islamist stronghold of Derna in a Taliban-style execution after being accused of murder.
--With assistance from Mariam Fam in Cairo and Saleh Sarrar in Tripoli.