Forces from Libyan city of Misrata say they seized Tripoli airport

Forces from the Libyan city of Misrata on Saturday seized Tripoli's main airport after more than a month of fighting with a rival group, a Misrata spokesman said. Pictures on social media purportedly showed Misrata fighters celebrating at the terminal building and standing on civilian planes in what, if confirmed, would be a big development in the battle to control the capital. Arab channels Jazeera and Al-Arabiya also said Misrata forces were controlling the airport, although Reuters was unable immediately to access the area. Heavy shelling could be heard in other parts of the city. War planes had earlier struck Misrata positions in Tripoli in an attack claimed by renegade general Khalifa Haftar. The raids killed 10 people and wounded dozens, the Misrata faction said. The fighting is the worst since the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. In the NATO-backed campaign to oust Gaddafi, fighters from the western region of Zintan and Misrata, east of Tripoli, were comrades-in-arms. But they later fell out and this year has turned parts of Tripoli into a battlefield, according to Reuters.