CORRECTS Libyan Army hits cargo plane carrying arms for Haftar

CORRECTS MAY 5 TO APRIL 5 IN SECOND PARAGRAPH, EDITS THROGHOUT

By Aydogan Kalabalik

TRIPOLI (AA) - The Libyan Army conducted an airstrike last month on a cargo plane carrying weapons and ammunition to militias loyal to renegade general Khalifa Haftar, the military said late Wednesday.

The Antonov-type airlift cargo plane was targeted after landing at an airport in Tarhuna, southeast of the capital Tripoli on April 5, according to a statement by the press center of the Libyan Army-led Operation Volcano of Rage.

Tarhuna is a major focal point for Haftar’s militias in their onslaught against Tripoli as well as for their supply lines from Al-Jufra air base.

The explosion of the ammunition on board the plane disproved the claim by Ahmed Al-Mismari, the spokesman for Haftar’s militias, that it had been carrying medical equipment, the statement said.

The Libyan Army has recently made gains against Haftar's militias, which are supported by France, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

Following the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya’s government was founded in 2015 under a UN-led political deal. Since April 2019, the government has been under attack by Haftar’s forces, based in eastern Libya, and more than 1,000 people have been killed in the violence.