Troops loyal to rogue Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar said they shot down a plane belonging to forces loyal to the rival unity government, which acknowledged losing contact with one of its aircraft.
Haftar’s spokesperson Ahmad al-Mesmari said on Thursday, July 4 that an L-39 Albatros was shot down near the town of Tarhuna, a rear base of the self-styled Libyan National Army located 80 km (50 miles) southeast of Tripoli.
GNA forces, under attack around Tripoli by Haftar’s forces since early April, said they had lost contact with an air force L-39 that was on a combat mission south of the capital.
There was no word on the crew’s fate.
The two rival camps, locked in battle on the ground, have both lost several planes in the past three months of fighting.
With reporting from AFP
