A warplane belonging to eastern Libyan forces fighting the internationally recognized Tripoli government is seen after an emergency landing on a road in the southern Tunisian town of Beni Khadash, July 22, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer

TUNIS (Reuters) - A warplane belonging to eastern Libyan forces fighting the internationally recognised Tripoli government made an emergency landing in Tunisia on Monday and the pilot was detained, the self-declared eastern foreign ministry said.

Negotiations with Tunisian authorities to secure the release of the pilot were under way, the ministry said in a statement.

The plane landed on a road in the southern Tunisian town of Beni Khadash, Tunisia’s state news agency TAP said. Tunisia’s defence ministry said the pilot informed the authorities that he was forced to make the landing after his plane was damaged.

Tunisia’s air force scrambled jets to intercept the L-39 but it landed first, a defence ministry statement said.

Witnesses said the plane touched down on a road and was surrounded by civilian vehicles that stopped to watch.

Libya has been splintered by violent turmoil since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi. The eastern Libyan National Army under Khalifa Haftar is trying to take Tripoli from forces allied to the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), but the LNA offensive has bogged down on the capital’s outskirts. </s> TUNIS, July 22 (Reuters) - A Libyan warplane made an emergency landing on a road in the southern Tunisian town of Beni Khadash on Monday and its pilot has been detained, according to Tunisia's state news agency TAP.

The Tunisian Ministry of Defence said the pilot informed the authorities that he was forced to make the landing due to damage to his plane.

Tunisia's air force prepared to intercept the L-39 warplane but it landed before it could be reached, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA), which is allied to a rival administration in eastern Libya and which mounted an offensive on Tripoli in early April, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Witnesses said the plane had landed on a road and been surrounded by civilian vehicles stopping to watch. </s> TUNIS — A Libyan warplane made an emergency landing on a road in the southern Tunisian town of Beni Khadash on Monday and its pilot has been detained, according to Tunisia’s state news agency TAP.

The Tunisian Ministry of Defence said the pilot informed the authorities that he was forced to make the landing due to damage to his plane.

Tunisia’s air force prepared to intercept the L-39 warplane but it landed before it could be reached, the ministry said in a statement on its website.

Forces allied to the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) denied the warplane was one of theirs.

Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), which is allied to a rival administration in eastern Libya and which mounted an offensive on Tripoli in early April, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Witnesses said the plane had landed on a road and been surrounded by civilian vehicles stopping to watch. (Reporting By Tarek Amara;additional reporting by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) </s> TUNIS, July 22 (Reuters) - A warplane belonging to eastern Libyan forces fighting the internationally recognised Tripoli government made an emergency landing in Tunisia on Monday and the pilot was detained, the self-declared eastern foreign ministry said.

Negotiations with Tunisian authorities to secure the release of the pilot were under way, the ministry said in a statement.

The plane landed on a road in the southern Tunisian town of Beni Khadash, Tunisia's state news agency TAP said.Tunisia's defence ministry said the pilot informed the authorities that he was forced to make the landing after his plane was damaged.

Witnesses said the plane touched down on a road and was surrounded by civilian vehicles that stopped to watch.

Libya has been splintered by violent turmoil since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi. The eastern Libyan National Army under Khalifa Haftar is trying to take Tripoli from forces allied to the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), but the LNA offensive has bogged down on the capital's outskirts. </s> TUNIS — A warplane belonging to eastern Libyan forces fighting the internationally recognized Tripoli government made an emergency landing in Tunisia on Monday and the pilot was detained, the self-declared eastern foreign ministry said.

Negotiations with Tunisian authorities to secure the release of the pilot were under way, the ministry said in a statement.

The plane landed on a road in the southern Tunisian town of Beni Khadash, Tunisia’s state news agency TAP said. Tunisia’s defense ministry said the pilot informed the authorities that he was forced to make the landing after his plane was damaged.

Tunisia’s air force scrambled jets to intercept the L-39 but it landed first, a defense ministry statement said.

Witnesses said the plane touched down on a road and was surrounded by civilian vehicles that stopped to watch.

Libya has been splintered by violent turmoil since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi. The eastern Libyan National Army under Khalifa Haftar is trying to take Tripoli from forces allied to the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), but the LNA offensive has bogged down on the capital’s outskirts. (Reporting By Tarek Amara;additional reporting by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli and Ayman al-Warfalli in Benghazi Editing by Mark Heinrich) </s> TUNIS (Reuters) - A Libyan warplane landed on Monday on a road in the southern Tunisian town of Beni Khadash, witnesses and local media said.

The state news agency TAP said the plane had made an emergency landing, and that the pilot, the sole occupant, had been arrested by the military units that surrounded the area.

Witnesses said the plane had landed on a road and been surrounded by civilian vehicles stopping to watch.

The Ministry of Defence was not immediately available for comment. </s> A Libyan warplane of military commander Khalifa Haftar’s forces made an emergency landing in neighbouring Tunisia on Monday, authorities in Libya said.

The aircraft was on a “reconnaissance and patrol mission and suffered a technical problem resulting in an emergency landing” in southern Tunisia, said a statement from an administration based in eastern Libya.

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 (GNA).

Tunisia’s defence ministry said the jet landed early Monday on a road near Medenine city, which lies some 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the Libyan border.

The ministry mobilised a fighter jet “to intercept and identify the aircraft, but it had to make an emergency landing”, said the ministry, adding that one colonel was on board.

Onlookers including children gathered near the jet, while the pilot spoke to Tunisian authorities.

The jet was transporting two bombs, said an AFP photographer at the scene where the warplane had been cordoned off at the roadside.

Libya’s internationally-recognised GNA in Tripoli also said the jet belonged to pro-Haftar forces.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in the battle for Tripoli, according to the World Health Organization, while more than 100,000 people have been displaced by the violence. </s> A warplane belonging to the forces of Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar made an emergency landing in neighboring Tunisia on Monday, an allied administration based in eastern Libya said.

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 U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord.

Tunisia's defense ministry said the jet landed at around 0630 GMT on a road near Medenine city, which lies some 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the Libya border.

Tunisia mobilized a fighter jet "to intercept and identify the aircraft, but it had to make an emergency landing," said the ministry, adding that one colonel was on board.

According to defense specialist Arnaud Delalande, the paintwork shown in bystanders' photos indicated it was "most probably a pro-Haftar plane".

While some of his sources said it carried out an emergency landing due to a navigation problem, others suggested the "Libyan pilot could have defected to refuse to bomb citizens" as in previous military campaigns.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in the battle for Tripoli, according to the World Health Organization, while more than 100,000 people have been displaced by the violence. </s> Fathi Nasri, AFP |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 on July 22, 2019

Libyan authorities say an airstrike hit a field hospital south of the capital, Tripoli, killing at least four doctors and a paramedic.

A spokesman for the health ministry of the UN-supported government of Libya, says the attack took place late Saturday in the Zawya district.

Forces based in the country's east are currently fighting for control of the capital's southern outskirts against militias allied with the Tripoli-based government.

The government blamed the airstrike on the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), led by commander Khalifa Haftar. The LNA could not immediately be reached for comment.

The government in Tripoli has weathered the initial onslaught and since then fighting has remained deadlocked on the outskirts of the city, with both sides resorting to air strikes.

"The field hospital located on the airport road (south of Tripoli) was hit by an air raid. Five doctors were killed and seven other people, including rescuers, wounded," health ministry spokesman Lamine al-Hashemi said.

The strike occurred on Saturday and was carried out by "a Haftar warplane", he said.

"It was a direct hit against the hospital which was packed with medical teams," Hashemi added.

The attack was the third to target a hospital south of the capital.

On July 16 three doctors and a paramedic were wounded in a strike on the Swani hospital near the capital, the second time it was targeted.

The World Health Organisation and rights groups have repeatedly called on both sides in the conflict to spare medical personnel, clinics and hospitals.

The fighting since April has left nearly 1,100 people dead and wounded more than 5,750, according to the WHO. More than 100,000 civilians have fled their homes.

Haftar's LNA began its offensive on Tripoli in early April, but the battle lines have changed little in recent weeks.
Tunisia's Ministry of Defence says that a pilot is arrested after a damaged Libyan warplane, reported to be a L-39 Albatros, makes an emergency landing on a road near the southern town of Beni Khadash.