Two Libyan Mirage F1 jet fighters have escaped the country after refusing to attack unarmed civilian protesters on the streets, landing in Malta’s International Airport, 211 miles north of their home country.
The two pilots; both senior colonels in the Libyan air force—have asked for political asylum after landing. They are now in police’s custody, awaiting further investigation. At the same time, two civilian Super Puma helicopters carrying French oil rig workers also landed in Malta after leaving Libya without clearance.
The news come among multiple eyewitness reports of aerial attacks on the demonstrators on the ground, as well as artillery fire, according to the Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera networks. There’s no footage on these attacks, however. [Gulf News and News24]
