Video PlayerClose

TRIPOLI, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The air force of Libya's eastern-based army on Saturday targeted Mitiga International Airport in the capital Tripoli, according to a military source.

"An airstrike targeted a military objective inside Mitiga air base," an army official said, providing no further details about the airstrike.

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

The airport has been targeted several times since the beginning of the fighting. The most recently shelling injured a few people and damaged a plane, forcing authorities to close the airport until further notice.

The eastern-based army, led by Khalifa Haftar, is allied with the eastern-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.