Tunisia defuses bombs as warplane forced to land

THE TUNISIAN army has defused bombs carried by a Libyan warplane that made an emergency landing in Tunisia the day before, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.

The aircraft belonged to the forces of commander Khalifa Haftar, who controls the east of Libya and much of the country’s south.

Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army launched an offensive in April to try to seize Tripoli from the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).

The jet made an emergency landing after it “suffered a technical problem”, according to a statement from a parallel administration based in eastern Libya, backed by Haftar.

An AFP photographer at the scene on Monday had said the plane was transporting two bombs.

The defence ministry said the jet has since been taken from its landing site near Medenine city, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Libyan border, to a Tunisian storage facility.

THIS picture shows Tunisian military officers inspecting a Libyan L-39 Albatros warplane belonging to forces of strongman Khalifa Haftar, after it made an emergency landing in the southeastern Tunisian town of Medenine, about 120 kilometres away from the TunisianLibyan border. The aircraft was on a “reconnaissance and patrol mission and suffered a technical problem resulting in an emergency landing” in southern Tunisia, a statement said. Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army, which backs the eastern administration, launched an offensive in April to try to seize Tripoli from the UN-recognised Government of National Accord. AFP PHOTO