Hijackers surrender after Malta landing

Hijackers surrendered and all passengers were safe after a plane from Libya landed on the Mediterranean island of Malta on Friday with 118 people on board, including seven crew members, Malta’s prime minister and government sources said.

The Airbus A320 had been on a domestic Libyan route operated by Afriqiyah Airways from the southwestern city of Sabha to the capital, Tripoli, on Friday morning but was rerouted.

“The Afriqiyah flight from Sabha to Tripoli has been diverted and has landed in Malta. Security services coordinating operations,” Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Twitter.

Libya confirmed the plane had been diverted.

Malta International Airport tweeted that “there is an unlawful interference at the airport. Emergency teams dispatched.”

After the plane landed, it was surrounded by military vehicles, and all flights at the airport were canceled.

On Friday afternoon, some passengers were allowed to begin leaving the aircraft. Eventually, all were released and the hijackers surrendered.

Earlier reports by Malta’s state television had said two hijackers with grenades who diverted the plane had threatened to blow it up.

Libya has been in a state of chaos since the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Gadhafi left warring militias battling for control of different parts of the country.

Forces loyal to a fledgling national unity government recently took control of the coastal city of Sirte, which had been a bastion for the Islamic State group since June last year.

Western powers have pinned their hopes of containing jihadism in the energy-rich North African state on the government, but it has failed to establish its authority over all of the country.