Libya’s National Accord Government headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj said its forces shot down a fighter jet belonging to forces of commander Khalifa Haftar south of the capital Tripoli on Sunday.

“The forces of the Libyan army shot down an enemy plane that was preparing to conduct air raids in the Wadi al-Rabie area,” Government of National Accord spokesman Mohamed Gnounou told AFP.

Haftar’s forces, which control swathes of the country’s east, launched an offensive earlier this month to take the Libyan capital, amid international calls to halt their battle against fighters loyal to the UN-recognized Government of National Accord based in Tripoli.

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Haftar, 75, a former general in Gaddafi’s army who later joined the revolt against him, moved his troops out of their eastern stronghold to take the oil-rich desert south earlier this year before sweeping up to Tripoli at the start of April.

But Fayez al-Serraj’s National Accord government has managed to halt the advance for now, aided by forces with machine-guns on pickups and steel containers across the road into Tripoli.

(With AFP)

Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:59 - GMT 06:59