| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa North |
| Missile attack forces further closure of Benina Airport |
| 2014-05-27 |
| [Libya Herald] Managers at Benghazi's Benina Airport will continue to suspend flights after a missile attack last night damaged a generator close to the runway. The manager at Benina, Ibrahim Farkash, told the Libya Herald that a barrage of rocket fire had hit a generator inside the airport perimeter. He said he believed the missiles had been fired from Sidi Faraj and Al-Khorash. Farkash said given the proximity of the blast area to the runway, the airport would have to remain closed for at least a week. He added that it was likely it would remain shut down until a breakthrough could be made to end the current political and security crisis in Benghazi. The area around Benina and the surrounding residential disrict of Bouatni have been struck by a number of rockets in recent days. On Friday night, two young children and an elderly woman were maimed in kabooms believed to be the result of mortar fire. The intended target was very probably the nearby base of the Saiqa Special Forces ...Libya's elite army unit, insofar as they have one, formed from a mixture of paratroopers and commandos. The group emerged from a militia with the same name in 2010. It now numbers a few thousand and reports to the Ministry of Defence. It deployed in Benghazi in an attempt to control the carnage. As a result, it has been attacked and several of its officers murdered. The force is popular in Benghazi for its stance against Ansar al-Sharia group... ' 21 Battalion. Beida's Labraq Airport, which is currently being used by carriers affected by the continued closure of Benghazi's Benina Airport, announced yesterday that airlines must not allow non-Libyan passengers to board international flights headed to Labraq until further notice, citing security concerns. |
| Posted by:Fred |