Tripoli main runway remains closed after weekend bomb attack

According to transport minister Abdelqader Mohammed Ahmed (pictured right) some unidentified people managed to get onto the runway and plant an explosive device at dawn on Friday and detonate it using a timer, he said.

"When security and the airport protection force arrived they found a timer," he said, adding that the explosion was “small.”  Flights, both local and international, were immediately canceled and the airport closed. An alternative runway has been opened to handle the limited traffic to Tripoli as the main runway is blocked and damaged.. There is little international traffic although a number of regional airlines continue to service the Libyan capital despite the escalation of incidents. Several European airlines have scheduled services to Tripoli including BA and Lufthansa,