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By Libya Herald reporters.
Tripoli, 30 January 2015:
A cargo plane is reported to have been burnt out at Tripoli’s Mitiga Airport this . . .[restrict]morning, after a night of violent clashes and road blocks in several parts of the capital.
The blazing aircraft, which appeared to be an Ilyushin Il-76 was not mentioned on the airport’s web site and the incident, which sent a plume of black smoke into the sky, did not seem to have interrupted Mitiga’s schedule. Calls to the airport went unanswered.
Posts on social media from people living near Mitiga said that there had been no airstrike before the aircraft caught fire.
The destruction of the Iluyshin came after a night of road blocks and fighting in several parts of Tripoli. A large explosion was heard in Ben Ashour in the small hours. Gunfire was reported on the coast road, near the Rixos conference centre, where the rump of the old GNC has still been meeting, in Fashloum, Drebi, Abu Selim and at Camp 77 near Bab Al Aziziya. There were roadblocks of vehicles, burning tyres and rubbish at various point including Dahra and Al-Zawia Street.
Speculation over the cause of the fighting has included a drugs or arrest raid by the Nawasi Brigade. Local residents often try to block off roads to hinder movement in and out of their districts.
However the geographical extent of the gunfire suggests a bigger issue. One theory was that members of Daesh, who claimed responsibility for Tuesdays Corinthia carnage, were exacting revenge on the Nawasi Brigade, the city’s principle enforcers who had broken the hotel siege and killed both attackers.
There appears to have been at least one overnight assassination. A military officer from an unknown service, First Lieutenant Faisal Abu Saada was murdered in the Al-Andalus district. [/restrict]
