Tripoli airport closed again

Rockets fired in direction of Matiga airport force closure of only functioning airport in Libyan capital.

TRIPOLI - Libya has closed the only functioning airport in the capital Tripoli again after rockets were fired in its direction, officials said on Tuesday, days after flights had resumed following a earlier shutdown.

Matiga airport, a former air base used for commercial flights since the main international airport was destroyed in 2014 by militia fighting, said all flights had been suspended.

It has closed and opened several times since a flare-up in violence in late August.

Rival armed groups based in and outside the city have fought over territory and resources in the OPEC oil producer since the toppling of Muammar Gathafi in 2011.