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A fuel depot near Tripoli airport continued to burn for the third consecutive day on Tuesday while a paramilitary warplane crashed in the city of Benghazi during clashes with militants.
General Sagr al-Jerouchi, chief of air operations for rebel ex-general Khalifa Haftar, said that it is not immediately clear if the fighter jet suffered a malfunction or was hit by gunfire before it crashed and exploded. He added that the pilot had ejected safely, which was corroborated by eye witnesses.
Meanwhile, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Bulgaria and Canada are among the latest nations to call back citizens or close their embassies in a chaotic and lawless Tripoli. Italy has, meanwhile, denied reports that it was going to send seven fire-fighting planes to help put out the inferno that has been blazing at an oil depot in the outskirts of Tripoli since Sunday.
“Italy continues to evaluate all options for helping Libya, bearing in mind the enormous technical difficulties and the fact that the area in question has been an arena for clashes between militias since July 13”, the Italian foreign ministry said.
Clashes around Tripoli international airport between forces loyal to renegade general Khalifa Haftar and militants have been going on for two weeks now. Scores of people have died in the violence, prompting several countries to call back its citizens from Libya.
The inferno was kindled by rocket fire in clashes between rival factions battling for control over Tripoli international airport. The fire had broken out when a rocket hit a tank that contained over 6 million liters of fuel; the fire then spread to a second storage unit within reach. Authorities fear that the blaze will spread further to a natural gas reservoir nearby, where around 90 million liters of gas is being stored, as authorities fear a potentially huge fireball that can cause carnage over a wide area. As the oil continues to burn, motorists in the city of Tripoli are suffering a severe fuel shortage as several service stations have been closed over fears of safety.
