Forces aligned with Libya’s U.N.-backed government says three of their men have been killed in air raids against a desert air base by rivals allied with eastern-based commander, Khalifa Haftar.
The struggle for control around Tamanhent air base risks escalating into the first major confrontation between forces officially linked to the Government of National Accord and Haftar’s Libyan National Army.
Haftar is aligned with an eastern parliament and government that have spurned the GNA since it arrived in the capital Tripoli, a year ago.
His forces have been extending their reach along Libya’s central Mediterranean coastline and into the desert regions of Jufra and Sabha, and say they also intend to take control of Tripoli.
