TRIPOLI, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Libya's eastern-based army on Wednesday announced that it shot down a fighter jet of the UN-backed government in the city of Misurata, some 200 km east of the capital Tripoli.
"The air force destroyed an L39 fighter jet on the military runway of Misurata military airport. The jet was bombing civilians around Tripoli," the army's information office said in a statement.
"The armed forces stress the ban on using Misurata airport for military purposes," the statement said.
The army on Tuesday announced destroying several objectives in Misurata, including a military shipping aircraft.
Since early April, the government has been engaged in a deadly armed conflict against the army, which is trying to take over the capital Tripoli and overthrow the government.
The fighting so far has killed more than a thousand people, injured more than 5,700 others, and forced more than 120,000 people to flee their homes, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The army 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.
