An Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320 with 111 passengers and 7 crew members on board was hijacked and diverted to Malta on Friday, the state-owned company has reported.

The airplane was on an internal flight from Sabha's Taminhint airport to Tripoli-based Mitiga airport when two terrorists claiming to be Gaddafi supporters threatened to blow up the plane with hand grenades.

The hijackers ordered the pilot to land the airplane in Malta. Later they agreed to release 65 while negotiations are still ongoing to release the others.

The demands of the hijackers are still unknown.