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4 unusual facts about Mitiga International Airport


Mitiga International Airport

After the USAF left, Wheelus became a Libyan People's Air Force installation and was renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base.

Of the combat aircraft, the US State Department estimated in 1983 that fifty percent remained in storage, including most of the MiG fighters and Tu-22 bombers.

Okba Ben Nafi AB was apparently converted for civilian use and became Mitiga Airport in 1995, according to Italian Wikipedia, from the name of a little girl killed by mistake during an exercise plan.

During the 2011 Libyan civil war, the The Times and The Guardian reported claims that the airport had been taken over by protestors opposed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.



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