Libya's government denied reports it is responsible for drone attacks that hit an airbase in the east used by mercenaries of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner. The origin of the early Friday attack on the Al-Kharruba airbase, 150km (90 miles) southwest of Benghazi, was unclear but it caused no casualties. Army Chief of Staff General Mohamad al-Haddad denied the Tripoli-based authorities had anything to do with the raid. "None of our aircraft targeted any site in the east," al-Haddad said, according to the Libyan news website Addresslibya. "These reports are aimed at stoking a new war between Libyan brothers and involving Libya in a regional conflict."

Youssef Jira, a fresh-faced 18-year-old in a hoodie with a bandana around his head, has big ambitions in a Libyan society where dictatorship and violence has dominated, rather than youthful creativity. Jira is one of a group of young tech fanatics who took part in the Libya Regional Championship for robotics in a suburb of Tripoli this month. Some 20 teams of 12-to-18-year-olds competed in the inclusive event. He wants to encourage other young people to use hi-tech to help modernise the divided and conflict-scarred country. "We want to send a message to the whole of society, because what we've learned has changed us a lot," Jira said, adding that he has gained new skills and learned about teamwork in pursuit of a common goal.

Air power has played an increasingly important role in the Libyan conflict. The relatively flat featureless desert terrain of the north and coast means that ground units are easily spotted, with few places to hide. The air forces of both the United Nations-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and eastern-based commander Khalifa Haftar and his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) use French and Soviet-era fighter jets, antiquated and poorly maintained. While manned fighter aircraft have been used, for the most part the air war has been fought by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones. With nearly 1,000 air strikes conducted by UAVs, UN Special Representative to Libya Ghassan Salame called the conflict "the largest drone war in the world".

Libya's UN-supported government launched a counterattack on Sunday against a strategic military base used by renegade commander Khalifa Haftar to pound the capital Tripoli with rocket fire. The response came after a missile barrage damaged Tripoli's main airport and set fuel tanks and several aircraft ablaze, with at least six civilians killed in surrounding residential areas in the attacks on Saturday. Meanwhile, Turkey - the Government of National Accord's (GNA) main ally defending Tripoli against Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) - threatened to step up its attacks against the eastern-based LNA, which has attempted to seize the capital for more than a year. "The forces of war criminal [Haftar] fired more than a hundred rockets and missiles at residential areas in the centre of the capital," the GNA said in a statement on Facebook. The airport was badly damaged and came under renewed rocket fire on Sunday morning, it said.

A United Arab Emirates (UAE) drone strike on a biscuit factory near the Libyan capital Tripoli on November 18 killed eight civilians and injured 27 others, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. In a report released on Wednesday, the rights group said the UAE appeared to take little or no action to minimise civilian casualties and called on Emirati authorities to conduct a transparent investigation into the incident. "Since the current armed conflict in Tripoli erupted in April 2019, the UAE has been conducting air and drone strikes to support the Libyan Arab Armed forces, previously known as the Libyan National Army [LNA], one of two major parties to the conflict, some of which have resulted in civilian casualties," HRW said. "All causalities in the November incident were civilian factory workers, including seven Libyans and 28 foreign nationals, all of them men." Human Rights Watch visited the site and found remnants of at least four Blue Arrow-7 (BA-7) laser-guided missiles that were launched by a Wing Loong-II drone.

Fox News Flash top headlines for Nov. 23 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com The U.S. military announced Friday it lost an unarmed drone over Tripoli, the Libyan capital -- the site of a months-long battle between the Libyan National Army and militias allied with the United Nations-supported government. The U.S. Africa Command said the remotely piloted aircraft was part of an operation conducted in Libya to assess the area's security and monitor for violent extremist activity. They didn't give a reason for the drone loss on Thursday, but the command will be investigating.

TRIPOLI – A drone airstrike by eastern Libyan forces on the southern Libyan town of Murzuq has killed at least 43 people, a local official said on Monday. The attack is the second major airstrike blamed on the eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) forces loyal to Khalifa Hifter after at least 44 migrants were killed in June when a detention center in a suburb of the capital Tripoli was hit. The LNA confirmed a strike late on Sunday on Murzuq, but denied it had targeted any civilians. The LNA had also denied it had hit the detention center but acknowledged increased air strikes on the capital. The internationally recognized government based in Tripoli opposing Hifter said dozens were killed and wounded in Murzuq. Reached by telephone, Murzuq municipal council member Mohamed Omar told Reuters: "The airstrike resulted in 43 killed and 51 wounded.