Libyan Air Force MiG-21 Jets on air surveillance along southern, eastern borders

Determined to stamp out arms and drug trafficking as well as stop illegal immigrants from entering the country, Libyan air force jets have continued to conduct air surveillance along the nation's southern and eastern borders, Yusuf al-Takouss, spokesman for the Air Force, told journalists Friday.

The MiG-21 combat planes and other types of aircraft involved in the campaign took off from the military airport in Sheba (south) to monitor border movements,' he said .

'Those which took off from the military base in Tobruk, monitored the border with Egypt,' he said, adding that the air surveillance was being conducted in the mornings and evenings.

Libyan security authorities and armed forces face difficulties in controlling the southern borders that include the vast Saharan parts where arms and drug traffickers operate and which serves as a transit point for illegal immigrants.

In early April, a Libyan war plane intercepted a caravan of oil dealers in the western borders during an operation that resulted in 11 deaths among the traffickers who refused to surrender.


Source: Tripoli, Libya – AfriqueJet News - 18 May 2013

Photo: The Libyan Air Force MiG-21 Fighter Aircrafts fly over Benina airport before Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird arrival in Benghazi, Libya, on June 27. (Photo by Hassan Ammar / The Associated Press)


(18.05.2013)