TRIPOLI, July 5 — Troops loyal to Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar said they shot down a plane belonging to forces loyal to the rival unity government, which acknowledged losing contact with one of its aircraft.

Haftar’s spokesman Ahmad al-Mesmari said yesterday night an L39 Albatros was shot down near the town of Tarhuna, a rear base of the self-styled Libyan National Army located 80 kilometres southeast of Tripoli.

GNA forces, under attack around Tripoli by Haftar’s forces since early April, said they had lost contact with an air force L39 that was on a combat mission south of the capital.

There was no word on the crew’s fate.

The two rival camps, locked in battle on the ground, have both lost several planes in the past three months of fighting. — AFP