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Plane crash kills 4 in eastern Libya

March 29, 2017 at 11:17 am

Image of a plane crash in Libya on 29 March 2017 [yenisafakEN/Twitter]

Four people were killed when an aircraft crashed over a house in Libya’s eastern city of Tobruk today, according to a local military official.

A “technical” error caused the crash, the official said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.

Read: 8 dead, 7 missing as Turkish vessel sinks near Libya

He said an Air Force commander was among those killed, the second such incident in eastern Libya this month.

Earlier this month, a military plane crashed in eastern Libya after carrying out airstrikes against opponents in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Libya has been locked in a state of violence and turmoil since 2011, when a bloody popular uprising ended with the ouster and death of longtime strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government – one in Tobruk and another in capital Tripoli – each of which boasts its own military capacity and legislative assembly.