BREAKING: Afriqiyah plane hijacked and forced to land in Malta

By Sami Zaptia.

London, 23 December 2016:

An Afriqiyah Airbus A320 plane on an internal Libyan flight has been diverted and forced to land at Malta’s International Airport (MIA).

The flight was an internal flight scheduled to fly from Sabha to Tripoli with 118 passengers.

The Times of Malta reports that there is one hijacker on board in possession of a hand grenade. The hijacker, claiming to be pro Qaddafi, said that he was willing to let all passengers go apart from the crew. – if his demands are met. It reports that his demands are still not clear.

The Maltese authorities have meanwhile closed down MIA.

More details to follow.