Libya's Tobruk govt hits Misrata Brigades airbase

TRIPOLI, Libya (AA) – A Libyan Misrata Brigades airbase, located south to the country’s central Al-Jufra area, was hit on Tuesday, killing at least one person and injuring others, according to a local source.

The source, preferring anonymity for security reasons, told Anadolu Agency that among the injured was Gen. Ibrahim Baitulmal, a spokesman for the Misrata Brigades.

A spokesman for forces loyal to Libya's Tobruk-based parliament, Gen. Ahmed al-Mismari, told local media that the pro-Tobruk air force had “targeted a meeting of leaders of militant groups in Al-Jafra.”

According to an Anadolu Agency reporter, the strike was the most violent of its kind since forces loyal to the Tobruk parliament started an air campaign against the Misrata Brigades and the Benghazi Defense Brigades in the Al-Jufra area.

In September, pro-Haftar forces seized the region north of Al-Jufrah known as the "oil crescent" -- an area coveted by the Benghazi Defense Brigades, which is loyal to Libya’s Tripoli-based Presidential Council.

The Shura Council of Benghazi and Misrata Brigades are vehemently opposed by Haftar’s forces, which were drawn up in mid-2014 with the ostensible aim of fighting "terrorist" groups.

Libya has been locked in a state of turmoil since Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster and death following the 2011 uprising.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- both of which boast a military capacity.

Late last year, Libya’s rival governments signed a UN-backed agreement to establish a unity government in an effort to resolve the country’s ongoing political standoff.