Abdul Hadi Dara, a spokesman for the Sirte and Jufrah Operations Room of the Government of National Accord, reported that a military helicopter carrying a number of Russian mercenaries had fallen in the Sukna area near the Al-Jafra air base in central Libya.
He told Anadolu Agency that preliminary information indicates the killing of 4 Russian mercenaries, indicating that the helicopter was also carrying weapons and ammunition, which led to its explosion.
Drah added that the plane was on its way to one of the oil fields used by Russian mercenaries, an operations room.
In turn, local sources said to the island that mercenaries from the Russian security company Wagner closed the area around the scene of the accident, amid the deployment of security forces in the adjacent streets.
The "Libya Al-Ahrar" channel reported - according to local sources - that the sounds of successive explosions were heard on the Sukna-Sabha road, indicating that the Wagner mercenaries had surrounded the area where the helicopter fell.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Ahmed Khalifa said that the plane took off from Al-Jafra base, adding that it may have been heading either to the Tamanint base or Brak Al-Shati base east of the city of Sabha (approximately 650 kilometers south of Tripoli).
Note that the three bases fall under the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar.
He added that the mercenaries closed the road leading to the city of Sebha, noting that Russian, Sudanese and Chadian mercenaries move freely in these areas.