Helicopter that crashed in western Libya suggest one of the militias obtained an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) supplied to the country's coastguard by the European Union.
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| Libyan Mlitia Purportedly Use Camcopter In Operation Against Strategic Air-Base. |
Photographs and a video appeared on various social media sites on 15 January, clearly showing a Camcopter S-100, which is made by the Austrian company Schiebel. The aircraft was marked in English and Arabic as the property of the 'Coast Guard Administration' and had an EU flag on its tail.
An Austrian member of parliament revealed in 2011 that four Camcopters had been supplied to Libya's elite 32nd (Khamis) Brigade in 2008-09, but Schiebel said the UAVs had actually been exported to help Libya control its borders and immigration.
The Libyan National Army (LNA) - a coalition of groups fighting on behalf of the Tobruk-based government - claimed it shot down the Camcopter near Al-Watiyah Air Base, which is over 50 km from the sea, saying it was operated by a militia affiliated to the rival Libya Dawn alliance.
Al-Watiyah has been a key base for the LNA since November, when it deployed combat aircraft there to open an air campaign against Libya Dawn strongholds in the west of the country. Since then, numerous airstrikes have been carried out against targets in Tripoli, Misrata, and elsewhere in the west. Video footage purportedly filmed at the base suggests at least one operational Mig-23MLD ground attack aircraft and one two-seat MiG-23UB are based there.
Libya Dawn militias have since tried to overrun the facility, but tribal militias allied to the LNA have so far prevented this from happening.
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