TRIPOLI- Libya's U.N.-backed Government of National Accord on Tuesday reopened Mitiga, Tripoli's only functioning airport, after almost two months of closure, the transportation minister said.
The airport had been shut since Sept. 1 after being struck by artillery fire. The source of the attack was not clear.
"The return of flights depends on the carriers and the airport management. It needs time to re-schedule flights, possible a week to 10 days or two weeks," the minister, Milad Matoq, said in a news conference in the capital.
Mitiga, just east of central Tripoli, has repeatedly come under attack in recent months, forcing it to halt flights for several hours.
The airport has been targeted during fighting involving the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), which launched an offensive in April for control of the capital and which has been battling forces aligned with the GNA.
The LNA, which has previously carried out air strikes against the airport, had said it was targeting an operations room for Turkish drones at the facility.
(Reporting by Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli, writing by Mahmoud Mourad; editing by John Stonestreet and Jon Boyle) ((mahmoud.mourad@thomsonreuters.com;))
