Libya's Tripoli airport resumes flights hours after suspension due to shelling

Mitiga International Airport in the Libyan capital of Tripoli resumed flights hours after suspension because of shelling on Saturday, the Libyan civil aviation authorities said.

"Air traffic has been resumed at Mitiga International Airport and airline companies will resume flights according to schedule," the airport's administration said.

The shelling took place as an airplane carrying 265 passengers from Saudi Arabia was about to land, according to the administration.

The UN-backed Libyan government accused the rival east-based army of carrying out the shelling, as the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) recently denounced increasing attacks on airports in western Libya.

The UN-backed government has been engaged in a deadly armed conflict since early April in and around Tripoli against the east-based army, which is trying to take over the city and overthrow the government.

The east-based army, led by Khalifa Haftar, is allied with the east-based government, as the North African nation is politically divided between eastern and western governments.

Libya has been struggling to make a democratic transition amid insecurity and chaos ever since the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011.