• March 28, 2024

Libyan Plane Hijacked, Diverted to Malta..118 on Board

hij

An internal flight in Libya has been diverted and has now landed in Malta with 118 passengers and crew on board.  The Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320 was supposed to be flying from Sebha in southwest Libya to Tripoli.  Malta is three hundred miles North of the Libyan coast.

Libya has been in a state of chaos since the 2011 overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi left warring militias battling for control of different parts of the country.

Forces loyal to a fledgling national unity government recently took control of the coastal city of Sirte, which had been a bastion for the Islamic State group since June 2015.

Western powers have pinned their hopes of containing jihadism in the energy-rich North African state on the government but it has failed to establish its authority over all of the country.

A rival authority rules the country’s far east, backed by the forces under military strongman Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who have been battling jihadists in second city Benghazi.

No report on who hijacked the plane or what their demands are.

 

Related post