The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has warned of "severe consequences of Haftar's LNA acts of preventing its flights from landing in Libya.
In a statement on Wednesday, the UNSMIL said it regrets that its regular flights, which transport its staff to and from Libya, are not granted permission by Khalifa Haftar’s forces to land in Libya.
The UNSMIL said such a practice has been repeated on several occasions in the past weeks, adding that the United Nations is very concerned that preventing its mission’s flights from traveling in and out of Libya will severely hinder its humanitarian and good offices effort at a time when all its staff are working relentlessly to push forward the ongoing three-track intra-Libyan dialogue and to provide the much-needed humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable conflict-affected civilians.
Meanwhile, the Head of the UNSMIL Ghassan Salame told the Security Council in his January 30 briefing that Haftar’s militias had announced a no-fly zone that included Mitiga Airport in Tripoli, threatening to shoot down military and civilian aircraft.
The spokesman for Haftar’s forces Ahmed Al-Mismari also said in a press conference in January that their forces had imposed a no-fly zone over Tripoli, threatening to shoot down any aircraft violating the zone, whether they were civilian or military.
Civilian air traffic is still ongoing at Mitiga Airport despite repeated rocket attacks, while the Haftar-claimed no-fly zone has hardly affected the airport.
