LNA Foils Turkish-Qatari Attempt to Target Airbase in Jufra

The Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar said Friday that it foiled a Turkish-Qatari plot to target its airbase in Jufra, 650 km southeast of the capital Tripoli.

The LNA downed three Turkish drones belonging to forces loyal to the Government of National Accord headed by Fayez al-Sarraj.

As part of Sarraj’s Volcano of Rage operation, his airforce conducted four airstrikes on LNA’s air defense systems in Jufra on Thursday and Alorban on Friday.

Local media affiliated with Sarraj’s government quoted military sources as saying that the airforce destroyed air defense systems and LNA drones in Jufra airbase that has been under the army’s control since June 2017.

This airbase has a strategic location and is considered the third largest in Libya.

LNA spokesman Ahmed Mesmari, however, clarified in a statement Friday that terrorist militias and mercenaries were defeated. They attempted to carry out an aerial and land attack on Jufra airbase following their losses in battles around Tripoli, he added.

This proves the army’s capability to thwart any plot. The latest attack was plotted by Ankara with Turkish backing and Qatari funds in millions of dollars to terrorist groups, Mesmari continued.

LNA’s Military Media Division said Friday that it attacked the airbase of the city of Misrata, some 200 km east of Tripoli, and destroyed three Turkish drones.

“The airforce targeted Misrata airbase, which launched three Turkish drones to attack the Jufra airbase, but the drones were all destroyed without being able to achieve their objectives,” it said in a statement.

LNA Karama operations media center affirmed Thursday that its forces managed to target mercenaries and terrorists, who were preparing to attack Jufra and the Oil Crescent region. The accuracy of the strikes caused a huge number of losses among them, according to the statement.

Moreover, United Nations envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame resumed his attempts to reach an endorsement of the international conference on the Libyan crisis that UNSMIL is planning to hold in Germany soon.