Tunisian plane destroys 2 vehicles near Libya
Jun 21, 2012, 12:22 PM
Associated Press
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) – A pair of Tunisian fighter jets attacked and destroyed two vehicles filled with weapons crossing the desert border from Libya, while a third escaped to Algeria, a Tunisian security official said Thursday.
The incident happened Wednesday evening near the triangle shaped no-man’s land in the Sahara desert where the borders of Tunisia, Libya and Algeria converge.
The jets were on a routine patrol when they were fired on by the vehicles, which were carrying rocket propelled grenades, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it was a matter for the Defense Ministry.
The Defense Ministry has made no public comment about the incident, which has been widely reported in the Tunisian media.
There was no information about the number of victims or the weapons being carried by the vehicles.
Since the fall of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s regime last year, North Africa has been awash with weapons wrested from Libyan arsenals and many are being sold to smugglers and armed militants operating in the unsecured areas of the Sahara.
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