The UN-backed Government of National Accord's (GNA) forces have destroyed a Panstir-type air defense system belonging to the Libyan National Army (LNA) in the country's northwestern town of Tarhuna, a military source affiliated with the GNA told Sputnik on Wednesday
TRIPOLI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th May, 2020) The UN-backed Government of National Accord's (GNA) forces have destroyed a Panstir-type air defense system belonging to the Libyan National Army (LNA) in the country's northwestern town of Tarhuna, a military source affiliated with the GNA told Sputnik on Wednesday.
In the early hours of Wednesday, LNA Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar decided to withdraw his troops some two miles from the front, near the capital of Tripoli, on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr Muslim holiday, which runs this year from May 23-24. The LNA also expects the same move from the GNA.
"As part of the GNA's Volcano of Rage operation, a drone attacked the Pantsir air defense system in the al-Kaniyat military camp in the town of Tarhuna," the source said.
A similar incident was reported earlier this week when airstrikes were conducted against the LNA south of Sirte and resulted in the destruction of another Pantsir system. The complexes are produced in Russia but supplied to Libya by the United Arab Emirates.
Libya has been torn between the two rival administrations � an elected parliament in the country's east, supported by the LNA, and the GNA in the country's west � since 2011, when long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed by US-supported Islamic extremists.
In April 2019, the eastern-based LNA resumed efforts to drive the Turkish-backed GNA away from Tripoli. The GNA responded by conducting the so-called Volcano of Rage offensive.
