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Libyan Air Force

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169-708: The Libyan Air Force ( Arabic : القوات الجوية الليبية ) is the branch of the Libyan Armed Forces responsible for aerial warfare . In 2010, before the Libyan Civil War , the Libyan Air Force personnel strength was estimated at 18,000, with an inventory of 374 combat-capable aircraft operating from 13 military airbases in Libya. Since the 2011 civil war and the ongoing conflict , multiple factions fighting in Libya have been in possession of military aircraft. As of 2019,

338-524: A MANPADS in northern Chad. The pilot, Captain Dia ad-Din, ejected and was captured. The LAAF immediately organized a recovery operation; subsequently a MiG-23 BN was also shot down. Its pilot was recovered. In November 1988, a Libyan Arab Air Force SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 was shot down over northern Chad, and its crew taken prisoner. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the elimination of military aid by

507-558: A French Dassault Rafale destroyed a G-2 Galeb near Misrata. Initial reports of the French action said the LPAF plane, a G-2/Galeb with a single engine, was in the air when it was hit. French military spokesman Col. Thierry Burkhard later said the plane had just landed when the attack took place. On 26 March 2011, the French Air Force reported that five Soko G-2 Galeb aircraft were destroyed on

676-455: A ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun (both pilots were killed), and then the next day, rebels also shot down a pro-Gaddafi helicopter (either a Mi-8 or Mi-24) near Ra's Lanuf with a ZPU-4 anti-aircraft gun. Three more pro-Gaddafi fighter jets (two of them Su-22 fighter bombers—their pilots were captured, reportedly being Syrian and Sudanese mercenaries) and two more pro-Gaddafi helicopters (either Mi-8 or Mi-24) were reportedly shot down by rebel forces during

845-456: A bombing raid against Islamists; its pilot ejected safely (the Islamists claim that they shot it down). At the same time, using the captured equipment in al-Watiya air force base, pro-LNA forces started to bring back to active service several Su-22 bombers and Mirage F-1ED fighter jets in 2014 and 2015. A second pro-LNA MiG-23ML fighter jet, serial number "6132", was shot down on 8 February 2016 by

1014-439: A bombing run on positions of pro-LNA forces at the civilian airport at Al-Zintan. Its pilot, colonel Hassan Mahmoud Misrati, successfully ejected and was captured by the pro-LNA forces. Despite poor performances in the war, pro-GNA forces with the help of Ukrainian specialists continued to overhaul and repair more MiG-25 fighter jets through 2017 and 2018 in order to bring them back to active combat service. Besides MiG-25 aircraft,

1183-562: A collection of related dialects that constitute the precursor of Arabic, first emerged during the Iron Age . Previously, the earliest attestation of Old Arabic was thought to be a single 1st century CE inscription in Sabaic script at Qaryat al-Faw , in southern present-day Saudi Arabia. However, this inscription does not participate in several of the key innovations of the Arabic language group, such as

1352-527: A colonel of the Libyan People's Air Force at the Mitiga military airport , near Tripoli , announced that he had defected and joined the revolution, and this is the earliest case of Libyan air force personnel defecting to the opposition. Very quickly defections have started to have effect on pro-Gaddafi air force—according to the opposition sources, hundreds of pilots, technicians and ground personnel have defected to

1521-629: A consensus later emerged that (in the absence of an official refutation of the LNA's claim) the Mirage lost must have been a GNA plane. On 7 May 2019, pro-Haftar LNA forces shot down with anti-aircraft guns a pro-GNA air force Mirage F1ED at Wadi al-Hira area near Gharyan, south of the Libyan capital of Tripoli; the plane was launched from the pro-GNA Misrata air force base and its pilot, 29-year-old Jimmy Sponaugle, an American mercenary, ejected successfully and survived, and

1690-435: A corpus of poetic texts, in addition to Qur'an usage and Bedouin informants whom he considered to be reliable speakers of the ʿarabiyya . Arabic spread with the spread of Islam . Following the early Muslim conquests , Arabic gained vocabulary from Middle Persian and Turkish . In the early Abbasid period , many Classical Greek terms entered Arabic through translations carried out at Baghdad's House of Wisdom . By

1859-500: A decision of the minister of defense Abd al-Nabi Yunis. Lt. Col. al-Hadi Salem al-Husomi was assigned to lead the new force. It was originally equipped with a small number of transports and trainers: Douglas C-47s and Lockheed T-33s . However, F-5 Freedom Fighters were delivered from 1969. In 1970 it changed its name to the Libyan Arab Republic Air Force (LAAF). After US forces left Libya in 1970, Wheelus Air Base ,

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2028-1077: A dialect of Arabic and written in the Latin alphabet . The Balkan languages, including Albanian, Greek , Serbo-Croatian, and Bulgarian , have also acquired many words of Arabic origin, mainly through direct contact with Ottoman Turkish . Arabic has influenced languages across the globe throughout its history, especially languages where Islam is the predominant religion and in countries that were conquered by Muslims. The most markedly influenced languages are Persian , Turkish , Hindustani ( Hindi and Urdu ), Kashmiri , Kurdish , Bosnian , Kazakh , Bengali , Malay ( Indonesian and Malaysian ), Maldivian , Pashto , Punjabi , Albanian , Armenian , Azerbaijani , Sicilian, Spanish, Greek, Bulgarian, Tagalog , Sindhi , Odia , Hebrew and African languages such as Hausa , Amharic , Tigrinya , Somali , Tamazight , and Swahili . Conversely, Arabic has borrowed some words (mostly nouns) from other languages, including its sister-language Aramaic, Persian, Greek, and Latin and to

2197-464: A disastrous defeat in Chad, losing nearly a quarter of its invasion force. On 19 July 1977, after a protest march by Libyans was stopped by Egyptian border guards , Libyan artillery units fired into Egypt. After further border violations were alleged by both sides, fighting escalated on the same day with an artillery duel, and, two days later, a drive along the coast by Egyptian armor and infantry during which

2366-539: A former US facility about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from Tripoli , became a LAAF installation and was renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base. The base housed the LAAF's headquarters and a large share of its major training facilities. Starting in 1970, a significant expansion of the air force took place, with a large number of French and later Soviet combat aircraft being purchased. In May 1967, the Kingdom of Libya reached an agreement with

2535-655: A funeral procession and a group of protesters trying to reach an army base. The human rights researcher Ahmed Elgazir had reported, that the Libyan News Centre (LNC) received a satellite phone call from an unnamed woman who was "witnessing the massacre in progress". This information could not be verified, since phone lines in the country had been blocked. During the opening month of the Libyan civil war between 19 February and 19 March, rebel forces managed to capture four out of 13 Libyan air force airfields, and were attacking multiple others—to prevent their destruction, according to

2704-530: A large amount of equipment has also been donated to friendly countries in the Middle East, Africa, South America, and North Korea as well. The Libyan Army was generally regarded as neither efficient nor well trained. From the late seventies to the mid to late eighties the army was involved in four major incursions across the Chadian border . The Libyan Army suffered great losses in these conflicts especially that of

2873-483: A lesser extent and more recently from Turkish, English, French, and Italian. Arabic is spoken by as many as 380 million speakers, both native and non-native, in the Arab world, making it the fifth most spoken language in the world, and the fourth most used language on the internet in terms of users. It also serves as the liturgical language of more than 2 billion Muslims . In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Arabic

3042-677: A millennium before the modern period . Early lexicographers ( لُغَوِيُّون lughawiyyūn ) sought to explain words in the Quran that were unfamiliar or had a particular contextual meaning, and to identify words of non-Arabic origin that appear in the Quran. They gathered shawāhid ( شَوَاهِد 'instances of attested usage') from poetry and the speech of the Arabs—particularly the Bedouin ʾaʿrāb  [ ar ] ( أَعْراب ) who were perceived to speak

3211-577: A number of RPG type and anti-aircraft missile systems: RPG-2 , RPG-7 , 9K32 Strela-2 . A sharp series of border clashes occurred with Egypt in 1977, and Libyan forces were flown into Uganda in 1978 in an unsuccessful effort to defend Idi Amin's Uganda against invading Tanzanian forces. In addition, the Libyans conducted a series of campaigns in Northern Chad since 1980, launching a campaign against Chad that year and again in 1983. In April 1987, Libya suffered

3380-506: A pro-GNA L-39ZO Albatros fighter jet in Dafniya , south of Misrata, as it was bombing pro-LNA positions around the town, however because Dafniya is over 100 kilometers away from the nearest pro-LNA frontline positions, this is highly questionable claim (pro-GNA forces confirmed that they lost the plane, but deny the pro-LNA claim of shooting it down, claiming instead that their L-39ZO fighter jet crashed due to technical malfunction after taking off);

3549-615: A pro-LNA MiG-21MF in the area of Ain Zara, Tripoli, with a Chinese-made FN-6 MANPADS (pro-LNA forces claim that the aircraft crashed due to technical problems), its pilot Jamal Ben Amer ejected safely and survived, being retrieved by pro-LNA Mi-35 helicopter. On 17 April, pro-LNA forces captured in the Tripoli outskirts from pro-GNA forced several Chinese-made FN-6 MANPADs, confirming the claims that pro-GNA forces have been armed with such advanced anti-aircraft weapons, which were also not previously in use by

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3718-576: A recruitment campaign as well the integration of 14,000 men from the disbanded National Security Force and Cyrenaica Defense Force. After Gaddafi and his fellow Free Officers severed ties with the United States and the United Kingdom , France became the main supplier of weapons to Libya until 1974, when the Soviet Union agreed to sell vast amounts of weaponry to Libya, far exceeding the needs of

3887-576: A result, many European languages have borrowed words from it. Arabic influence, mainly in vocabulary, is seen in European languages (mainly Spanish and to a lesser extent Portuguese , Catalan , and Sicilian ) owing to the proximity of Europe and the long-lasting Arabic cultural and linguistic presence, mainly in Southern Iberia, during the Al-Andalus era. Maltese is a Semitic language developed from

4056-462: A script derived from ASA attest to a language known as Hasaitic . On the northwestern frontier of Arabia, various languages known to scholars as Thamudic B , Thamudic D, Safaitic , and Hismaic are attested. The last two share important isoglosses with later forms of Arabic, leading scholars to theorize that Safaitic and Hismaic are early forms of Arabic and that they should be considered Old Arabic . Linguists generally believe that "Old Arabic",

4225-465: A single language, despite mutual incomprehensibility among differing spoken versions. From a linguistic standpoint, it is often said that the various spoken varieties of Arabic differ among each other collectively about as much as the Romance languages . This is an apt comparison in a number of ways. The period of divergence from a single spoken form is similar—perhaps 1500 years for Arabic, 2000 years for

4394-566: A threat to NATO-led forces), and these MiG-25 aircraft were relocated by pro-GNA forces from the Al-Juffrah air force base to the Misrata air force base at the beginning of 2015 in order to be overhauled, repaired and returned to active combat service. One of those newly restored aircraft, a two-seat MiG-25PU trainer version, crashed during its first post-restoration flight on 6 May 2015—(LNA claims that it shot it down, but that remains unconfirmed), during

4563-523: A training flight on 18 May 2016 at the Tobruk airport, pilot colonel Mohamed Rabie al-Shawa died in the crash while co-pilot captain Abdul Quader Mohamed survived the crash but was injured. On 29 March 2017, another pro-LNA MiG-21bis crashed at the city of Tobruk after returning from a bombing mission against Islamist positions in the town on Derna—its pilot, LNA air brigadier Saleh Joudah, the commander of

4732-503: A type of Arabic. Cypriot Arabic is recognized as a minority language in Cyprus. The sociolinguistic situation of Arabic in modern times provides a prime example of the linguistic phenomenon of diglossia , which is the normal use of two separate varieties of the same language, usually in different social situations. Tawleed is the process of giving a new shade of meaning to an old classical word. For example, al-hatif lexicographically means

4901-499: A variety of regional vernacular Arabic dialects , which are not necessarily mutually intelligible. Classical Arabic is the language found in the Quran , used from the period of Pre-Islamic Arabia to that of the Abbasid Caliphate . Classical Arabic is prescriptive, according to the syntactic and grammatical norms laid down by classical grammarians (such as Sibawayh ) and the vocabulary defined in classical dictionaries (such as

5070-570: A week later on 20 March; however, this news wasn't confirmed by any independent sources and was right away denied by pro-Gaddafi media wing, and was finally confirmed to be misinformation when on 9 June a captured pro-Gaddafi loyalist soldier in Misrata told the rebel forces that he personally saw that Khamis Gaddafi was alive and well, leading his soldiers in Zliten. On 15 March 2011, Free Libyan air force aircraft conducted its first air attacks against Gaddafi loyalists, flying six combat sorties. According to

5239-470: A wider audience." In the wake of the industrial revolution and European hegemony and colonialism , pioneering Arabic presses, such as the Amiri Press established by Muhammad Ali (1819), dramatically changed the diffusion and consumption of Arabic literature and publications. Rifa'a al-Tahtawi proposed the establishment of Madrasat al-Alsun in 1836 and led a translation campaign that highlighted

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5408-476: A year to the day after they defected. On 20 June 2012 the Air Force Chief of Staff, Saqr Geroushi, announced plans for the rebuilding of the Libyan air force. The plans included proposals for the purchase of two squadrons of French Rafale fighter aircraft, a number of British Eurofighter Typhoons ; and additional new French F1-Mirage jets, American C-130H Hercules cargo planes and CH-47 Chinook helicopters—as

5577-727: Is a Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world . The ISO assigns language codes to 32 varieties of Arabic , including its standard form of Literary Arabic, known as Modern Standard Arabic , which is derived from Classical Arabic . This distinction exists primarily among Western linguists; Arabic speakers themselves generally do not distinguish between Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic, but rather refer to both as al-ʿarabiyyatu l-fuṣḥā ( اَلعَرَبِيَّةُ ٱلْفُصْحَىٰ "the eloquent Arabic") or simply al-fuṣḥā ( اَلْفُصْحَىٰ ). Arabic

5746-610: Is a former Libyan People's Air force aerial refueling aircraft, but now used solely as a transport aircraft by pro-GNA forces), all of which were flown by Sudanese mercenaries. During all of 2016, the pro-GNA Libyan Air Force carried out numerous air strikes on positions of the group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which had taken control of parts of northern Libya around the city of Sirte—using their L-39ZO, Mirage F-1ED and MiG-23ML fighter jets, pro-GNA forces conducted dozens of airstrikes on ISIL positions both outside and inside of

5915-585: Is a minimum level of comprehension between all Arabic dialects, this level can increase or decrease based on geographic proximity: for example, Levantine and Gulf speakers understand each other much better than they do speakers from the Maghreb. The issue of diglossia between spoken and written language is a complicating factor: A single written form, differing sharply from any of the spoken varieties learned natively, unites several sometimes divergent spoken forms. For political reasons, Arabs mostly assert that they all speak

6084-542: Is a sister language rather than their direct ancestor. Arabia had a wide variety of Semitic languages in antiquity. The term "Arab" was initially used to describe those living in the Arabian Peninsula , as perceived by geographers from ancient Greece . In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside the Ancient South Arabian family (e.g. Southern Thamudic) were spoken. It

6253-469: Is believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages (non-Central Semitic languages) were spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hejaz , Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages. In Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested. In eastern Arabia, inscriptions in

6422-408: Is credited with establishing the rules of Arabic prosody . Al-Jahiz (776–868) proposed to Al-Akhfash al-Akbar an overhaul of the grammar of Arabic, but it would not come to pass for two centuries. The standardization of Arabic reached completion around the end of the 8th century. The first comprehensive description of the ʿarabiyya "Arabic", Sībawayhi's al - Kitāb , is based first of all upon

6591-468: Is credited with standardizing Arabic grammar , or an-naḥw ( النَّحو "the way" ), and pioneering a system of diacritics to differentiate consonants ( نقط الإعجام nuqaṭu‿l-i'jām "pointing for non-Arabs") and indicate vocalization ( التشكيل at-tashkīl ). Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi (718–786) compiled the first Arabic dictionary, Kitāb al-'Ayn ( كتاب العين "The Book of the Letter ع "), and

6760-566: Is not present in the spoken varieties, but deletes Classical words that sound obsolete in MSA. In addition, MSA has borrowed or coined many terms for concepts that did not exist in Quranic times, and MSA continues to evolve. Some words have been borrowed from other languages—notice that transliteration mainly indicates spelling and not real pronunciation (e.g., فِلْم film 'film' or ديمقراطية dīmuqrāṭiyyah 'democracy'). The current preference

6929-836: Is official in Mali and recognized as a minority language in Morocco, while the Senegalese government adopted the Latin script to write it. Maltese is official in (predominantly Catholic ) Malta and written with the Latin script . Linguists agree that it is a variety of spoken Arabic, descended from Siculo-Arabic , though it has experienced extensive changes as a result of sustained and intensive contact with Italo-Romance varieties, and more recently also with English. Due to "a mix of social, cultural, historical, political, and indeed linguistic factors", many Maltese people today consider their language Semitic but not

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7098-559: Is the third most widespread official language after English and French, one of six official languages of the United Nations , and the liturgical language of Islam . Arabic is widely taught in schools and universities around the world and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, governments and the media. During the Middle Ages , Arabic was a major vehicle of culture and learning, especially in science, mathematics and philosophy. As

7267-530: Is the variety used in most current, printed Arabic publications, spoken by some of the Arabic media across North Africa and the Middle East, and understood by most educated Arabic speakers. "Literary Arabic" and "Standard Arabic" ( فُصْحَى fuṣḥá ) are less strictly defined terms that may refer to Modern Standard Arabic or Classical Arabic. Some of the differences between Classical Arabic (CA) and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) are as follows: MSA uses much Classical vocabulary (e.g., dhahaba 'to go') that

7436-413: Is to avoid direct borrowings, preferring to either use loan translations (e.g., فرع farʻ 'branch', also used for the branch of a company or organization; جناح janāḥ 'wing', is also used for the wing of an airplane, building, air force, etc.), or to coin new words using forms within existing roots ( استماتة istimātah ' apoptosis ', using the root موت m/w/t 'death' put into

7605-516: Is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the industrial and post-industrial era , especially in modern times. Due to its grounding in Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic is removed over a millennium from everyday speech, which is construed as a multitude of dialects of this language. These dialects and Modern Standard Arabic are described by some scholars as not mutually comprehensible. The former are usually acquired in families, while

7774-445: The Lisān al-ʻArab ). Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) largely follows the grammatical standards of Classical Arabic and uses much of the same vocabulary. However, it has discarded some grammatical constructions and vocabulary that no longer have any counterpart in the spoken varieties and has adopted certain new constructions and vocabulary from the spoken varieties. Much of the new vocabulary

7943-536: The Gamal Abdel Nasser Airbase in Tobruk, was killed in the crash, along with four civilians on the ground. A third pro-LNA MiG-21bis was shot down over Al-Sabri district in Benghazi by Islamists on 17 April during a bombing raid against Islamist positions. Another pro-LNA MiG-21 fighter jet was shot down by Islamists MANPADS over the town of Derna on 31 July 2017 during its bombing raid on Islamist positions in

8112-657: The Gulf of Sidra , in 1981 and 1989 . In addition, many planes were destroyed or damaged on the ground in 1986 when American planes attacked targets at Benina International Airport in Benghazi and Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli . The air force was extensively used in the fighting in Chad in the 1980s , in support of Libyan ground units . It was reported that many Libyan Arab Air Force bombing raids were carried out at excessively high altitudes when met with anti-aircraft fire, so

8281-557: The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya . According to the opposition sources, many Libyan People's Air Force pilots had refused, multiple times, to obey orders to bomb protesters, instead dropping their bombs purposely off target in deserted areas. Also on the same day, on 23 February 2011, rebels captured the Benina air force base south of Benghazi—during the battle for the airport, one pro-Gaddafi Mi-24 combat attack helicopter (serial number "853")

8450-580: The Toyota War of 1987 largely due to poor tactics and western aid to Chad. All of these incursions were eventually repulsed and Libya no longer occupies Chad. This conflict was known as the Chadian–Libyan War . In February 2011, the First Civil War broke out and several units of the army mutinied and defected to the opposition, with battles taking place across much of the country. In September 2011,

8619-538: The UAE also provided spare parts, engineers and technicians to the pro-LNA air force, and Egypt provided extensive training of new pro-LNA fighter pilots, as well as reconstruction and modernization of pro-LNA Libyan air force bases. Pakistan also provided training of new pro-LNA fighter pilots between 2015 and 2017. The military support of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to Haftar's pro-LNA forces went even further than

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8788-561: The Xth form , or جامعة jāmiʻah 'university', based on جمع jamaʻa 'to gather, unite'; جمهورية jumhūriyyah 'republic', based on جمهور jumhūr 'multitude'). An earlier tendency was to redefine an older word although this has fallen into disuse (e.g., هاتف hātif 'telephone' < 'invisible caller (in Sufism)'; جريدة jarīdah 'newspaper' < 'palm-leaf stalk'). Colloquial or dialectal Arabic refers to

8957-656: The Yom Kippur War . These were later returned to Libya. These aircraft were retired in 2008, eventually used for Pakistan Air Force spares. The Libyan Arab Republic Air Force operated a large number of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25s , some sources say more than 60 were delivered, of the MiG-25PD, MiG-25RBK, MiG-25PU and MiG-25RU variants. They were operated by No. 1025 Squadron at Jufra-Hun , No. 1055 Squadron at Ghardabiya and an unidentified squadron at Sabha Air Base . As of February 2007 Air Forces Monthly reported all aircraft of

9126-494: The northern Hejaz . These features are evidence of common descent from a hypothetical ancestor , Proto-Arabic . The following features of Proto-Arabic can be reconstructed with confidence: On the other hand, several Arabic varieties are closer to other Semitic languages and maintain features not found in Classical Arabic, indicating that these varieties cannot have developed from Classical Arabic. Thus, Arabic vernaculars do not descend from Classical Arabic: Classical Arabic

9295-419: The "learned" tradition (Classical Arabic). This variety and both its classicizing and "lay" iterations have been termed Middle Arabic in the past, but they are thought to continue an Old Higazi register. It is clear that the orthography of the Quran was not developed for the standardized form of Classical Arabic; rather, it shows the attempt on the part of writers to record an archaic form of Old Higazi. In

9464-768: The "purest," most eloquent form of Arabic—initiating a process of jamʿu‿l-luɣah ( جمع اللغة 'compiling the language') which took place over the 8th and early 9th centuries. Kitāb al-'Ayn ( c.  8th century ), attributed to Al-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi , is considered the first lexicon to include all Arabic roots ; it sought to exhaust all possible root permutations —later called taqālīb ( تقاليب ) — calling those that are actually used mustaʿmal ( مستعمَل ) and those that are not used muhmal ( مُهمَل ). Lisān al-ʿArab (1290) by Ibn Manzur gives 9,273 roots, while Tāj al-ʿArūs (1774) by Murtada az-Zabidi gives 11,978 roots. Libyan Army (1951%E2%80%932011) The Libyan Army ( Arabic : الجيش الليبي )

9633-454: The 11th and 12th centuries in al-Andalus , the zajal and muwashah poetry forms developed in the dialectical Arabic of Cordoba and the Maghreb. The Nahda was a cultural and especially literary renaissance of the 19th century in which writers sought "to fuse Arabic and European forms of expression." According to James L. Gelvin , " Nahda writers attempted to simplify the Arabic language and script so that it might be accessible to

9802-476: The 2011 civil war. The IISS also estimated that Libya had 45 FROG-7 tactical ballistic missile launchers in service. In the 1990s, Libya purchased an estimated number between 5 and 100 Hwasong-6 missiles from North Korea. The Libyan government was also interested in buying Hwasong-7 missiles, but apparently never did. After Gaddafi voluntarily renounced his weapons of mass destruction program in 2003 , all Hwasong-6 missiles were scrapped, while Libya

9971-562: The 4th to the 6th centuries, the Nabataean script evolved into the Arabic script recognizable from the early Islamic era. There are inscriptions in an undotted, 17-letter Arabic script dating to the 6th century CE, found at four locations in Syria ( Zabad , Jebel Usays , Harran , Umm el-Jimal ). The oldest surviving papyrus in Arabic dates to 643 CE, and it uses dots to produce the modern 28-letter Arabic alphabet. The language of that papyrus and of

10140-812: The 8th century, knowledge of Classical Arabic had become an essential prerequisite for rising into the higher classes throughout the Islamic world, both for Muslims and non-Muslims. For example, Maimonides , the Andalusi Jewish philosopher, authored works in Judeo-Arabic —Arabic written in Hebrew script . Ibn Jinni of Mosul , a pioneer in phonology , wrote prolifically in the 10th century on Arabic morphology and phonology in works such as Kitāb Al-Munṣif , Kitāb Al-Muḥtasab , and Kitāb Al-Khaṣāʾiṣ    [ ar ] . Ibn Mada' of Cordoba (1116–1196) realized

10309-560: The Benina air force base south of Benghazi on 27 June 2011. Following the defeat of forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and the rebel victory in October 2011, the no fly zone was lifted and two grounded Jamahiriya air force Mirage F-1ED that had been based in Malta after their pilots refused orders to bomb the opposition during the civil war, were then given permission to return to Libya. The jets were finally returned to Libya on 21 February 2012, exactly

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10478-563: The Chadian rear areas, while the USA provided $ 240 million in equipment and weapons. The U.S. also contributed $ 75 million in emergency military aid, including transport aircraft and air defence systems. The Chad forces displayed some remarkable tactical innovations: they used Toyota all-terrain vehicles, lightly armored French-made Panhard cars, and Milan antitank and Stinger antiaircraft missiles to destroy Libyan tanks and planes. In 2011 protests against

10647-504: The GNA attacked LNA positions. On 8 April 2019, a series of airstrikes was carried out by both pro-LNA and pro-GNA air forces—pro-GNA fighter jets bombed on that day the pro-LNA al-Watiya air force base, 130 kilometers south of Tripoli, and in response to that attack pro-LNA MiG-21 fighter jets launched from that same air force base successfully bombed the pro-GNA Mitiga International Airport in Tripoli, damaging it, and after this pro-LNA bombing raid,

10816-607: The Ghardabiya airport defected with their planes to the opposition and landed in rebel-held air force base in Brega. Free Libyan air force aircraft conducted more air attacks on 16 March, flying three combat sorties with Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters, bombing pro-Gaddafi tank columns near Ajadabiyah—during those combat sorties one rebel Mi-24 combat attack helicopter was shot down by pro-Gaddafi forces near Ajadabiyah, killing three crew members while only one crew member, Ismael Kuttep, survived (among

10985-575: The Ground Forces of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya numbered 25,000 with an additional, estimated, 25,000 conscripts (total estimated 50,000). The IISS estimated that the ground forces were organised into 11 border defence and 4 security zones, one regime security brigade (the 32nd Khamis Brigade ), 10 tank battalions, 10 mechanised infantry battalions, 18 infantry battalions, 6 commando battalions, 22 artillery battalions, 4 surface-to-surface missile brigades and 7 air defence artillery battalions. Doctrine

11154-453: The IISS estimated that the Libyan army operated more than 424 surface-to-air missile systems, and 490 anti-aircraft guns (both towed and self-propelled), while the Air Defense Command (established in 1973) operated more than 216 SAM systems, as well some AA guns. By 2009, Libyan land-based air defenses were largely obsolete, however they were amongst the largest in the Middle East. Most of Libya's air defence systems were destroyed during

11323-650: The Islamists during its bombing raid on Islamist positions in the town of Derna (LNA claims it crashed due to technical problems), its pilot colonel Younes al-Dinali ejected safely. A third pro-LNA fighter jet, this time an MiG-23UB serial number "7834", was shot down by the Islamists during its bombing raid on Islamist positions in Garyunes area, Benghazi (LNA claims that it crashed due to technical problems), on 12 February 2016, its pilot ejected safely. In response to such heavy losses, during March and April 2016, two MiG23BN fighter jets with in-flight refueling probes, serial numbers "8985" and "4136", which were in storage ever since

11492-508: The LAAF gifted its sole Su-24MR (a specialized reconnaissance and electronic warfare variant) to Syria. Before the war began, Libyan People's Air Force had between 18,000 and 22,000 personnel and 374 aircraft and helicopters—however, most of these aircraft were not airworthy, and the air force in general was in a very poor state when the war began. During the Libyan Civil War , Libyan People's Air Force warplanes and attack helicopters launched repeated airstrikes on protesters, reportedly targeting

11661-501: The LAAF's aircraft. Two MiG-23 squadrons were manned by Syrian aircrews. Similarly, around 100 North Korean airmen operated MiG-21s between 1979 and 1981. Lastly, some of the newly acquired aircraft were put into storage. Of the combat aircraft, the United States Department of State estimated in 1983 that 50 percent remained in storage, including most of the MiG fighters and Tu-22 bombers. Dassault Mirage 5s bought shortly after Gaddafi took power were secretly used by Egypt during

11830-492: The Libyan Air Force is nominally under the control of the internationally recognised Government of National Accord in Tripoli , though the rival Libyan National Army of Marshal Khalifa Haftar also has a significant air force. In 2021, the air force was under command of the new President of Libya, Mohamed al-Menfi that replaced Fayez al-Sarraj . The air force was established as the Royal Libyan Air Force ( Al Quwwat al Jawwiya al Malakiya al Libiyya ) in September 1962 by

11999-420: The Libyan armed forces before the NATO-led intervention in 2011—according to the pro-LNA and Egyptian sources, the Chinese-made FN-6 MANPADs were supplied to pro-GNA forces by Qatar via Sudan. It was unknown whether that Mirage F-1AD that crashed at al-Watiya air force base on 24 April was shot down by pro-LNA forces, or whether it crashed due to technical problems while repelling the pro-GNA air force attack, but

12168-524: The Libyan army was engaged. Egypt claimed successful surprise air strikes against the Libyan air base at Al Adem, just south of Tobruk, and surface-to-air missile batteries and radar stations were knocked out as well. When the Egyptians withdrew on 24 July, most foreign analysts agreed that the Egyptian units had prevailed, although Libyan forces responded more effectively than had been expected. Libyan army hailed

12337-412: The Middle East and North Africa have become a badge of sophistication and modernity and ... feigning, or asserting, weakness or lack of facility in Arabic is sometimes paraded as a sign of status, class, and perversely, even education through a mélange of code-switching practises." Arabic has been taught worldwide in many elementary and secondary schools, especially Muslim schools. Universities around

12506-550: The Mitiga International Airport was temporarily closed between 8 April and 10 April—during those airstrikes at Mitiga airport, pro-LNA air forces reportedly damaged one pro-GNA air force CH-47 Chinook helicopter on the ground. Further airstrikes were made by both pro-GNA and pro-LNA air force aircraft throughout western Libya between 8 April and 13 April, with pro-GNA fighter jets targeting pro-LNA advancing troops near Sirte, Tripoli International Airport, Gharyan and at

12675-524: The Ouadi Doum base in 1987 and destroyed or captured two SF.260s, three Mil Mi-25s , two Tu-22B bombers, eleven L-39 jets, two complete 9K33 Osa (SA-8) SAM batteries, and a plethora of additional equipment, weapons, supplies and ammunition – a good deal of which was flown out to France and the United States within the next five days. Four USAF C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft were sent to N'Djamena to collect

12844-672: The Qur'an is referred to by linguists as "Quranic Arabic", as distinct from its codification soon thereafter into " Classical Arabic ". In late pre-Islamic times, a transdialectal and transcommunal variety of Arabic emerged in the Hejaz , which continued living its parallel life after literary Arabic had been institutionally standardized in the 2nd and 3rd century of the Hijra , most strongly in Judeo-Christian texts, keeping alive ancient features eliminated from

13013-561: The Romance languages. Also, while it is comprehensible to people from the Maghreb , a linguistically innovative variety such as Moroccan Arabic is essentially incomprehensible to Arabs from the Mashriq , much as French is incomprehensible to Spanish or Italian speakers but relatively easily learned by them. This suggests that the spoken varieties may linguistically be considered separate languages. With

13182-486: The Tobruk-based House of Representatives backed by Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army as well as the internationally recognised Government of National Accord in Tripoli have had many military aircraft in their possession. The Air Force has nominally been under the GNA's control. After Haftar gained power in eastern Libya, its part of the pro-LNA Libyan air force, made of MiG-21, MiG-23BN and MiG-23ML fighter jets,

13351-533: The Tripolitania Defense Force to protect his reign. He also relied on several lightly armed territorial forces and the mobile National Security Force, which was equipped with armored cars and helicopters. However, they didn't offer any resistance against the 1969 Libyan revolution led by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi . Within a year after the coup, the Libyan Army size increased to 22,000 men, following

13520-494: The UN-authorized and established no-fly zone over Libya. On 7 May, after weeks of complete inactivity, the Libyan People's Air Force conducted a successful air raid over the rebel-held fuel depots at Misrata, bombing them and setting them on fire. The rebels reported that the raid was conducted with crop dusting aircraft, but probably SF.260 light attack aircraft were used taking off from Misrata airport. NATO failed to intercept

13689-495: The Ukrainians also refurbished both Mirage F-1ED fighter jets of the pro-GNA air forces (serial numbers 502 and 508—the same two that defected to Malta on 21 February 2011), and with their help the pro-GNA forces brought them back into operational status by early 2015, using them extensively to bomb both ISIL militants and pro-LNA forces throughout 2016—but on 3 June 2016, one of the two pro-GNA Mirage F1ED fighter jets crashed west of

13858-558: The United States to supply 10 Northrop F-5s to the Royal Libyan Air Force. These were the first fighters for the young Air Force, which only operated six Douglas C-47 transports and three Lockheed T-33 A trainers at the time. Fifty-six personnel underwent training at bases in the US, pilots at Williams Air Force Base ; a US Survey Team on Expansion came to Libya in August 1968 to supervise

14027-542: The University of Sirte on 10 August 2016 (ISIL claims that they shot it down); both of its pilots, commander of Misrata air force base brigadier general Mukhtar Fakroun and co-pilot colonel Omar Dogha, died in the crash. With the help of Ukrainian specialists, pro-GNA air forces also managed to bring back to service several major transport aircraft that were in storage for over a decade—one CH-130H Hercules (serial number "118"), one An-32P, and one Il-78 (serial number 5A-DLL—this

14196-655: The attacks were not very effective. On 17 February 1986, in retaliation for the Ouadi Doum air raid by the French air force, a single LAAF Tu-22B attacked the airport at N'Djamena. That aircraft ran into technical problems on its return journey – American early warning reconnaissance planes based in Sudan monitored distress calls sent by the pilot of the Tu-22 which probably crashed before reaching its base at Aouzou (possibly hit by defences at N'Djamena airport). On 7 September 1987, another Tu-22

14365-560: The bombing mission. During the entire war and NATO-led intervention in Libya, Libyan rebel forces extensively used their three MiG-21 fighter jets as fighter escort of supply flights to western Libya, guarding transport aircraft that were delivering supplies to besieged rebel garrisons and cities in western Libya, flying despite the NATO-imposed no-fly zone over Libya. These three Free Libya air force jets—two MiG-21bis single-seat and one MiG-21UM two-seat fighter jets—were photographed flying over

14534-457: The captured Jamahiriya equipment. On 5 September 1987 Chadian technicals crossed into Libya and attacked the Maaten al-Sarra Air Base 96.5 kilometres (60.0 mi) within Libyan territory. The battle of Maaten al-Sarra was a major victory for Chad and several LAAF aircraft were destroyed on the ground with only minor Chadian casualties. On 8 October 1987, an LAAF Sukhoi Su-22 was shot down by

14703-525: The city of Sirte due to technical problems, its pilot ejected safely (according to other sources, ISIL militants shot it down, its pilot, a Portuguese mercenary, was killed). The last remaining pro-GNA Mirage F1ED fighter jet was not airworthy as of 2017 and was put in storage by the pro-GNA forces, as it lacked a functional engine due to lack of spare parts. Despite the pro-GNA L-39ZO Albatros having mediocre combat characteristics, they avoided combat losses—one pro-GNA L-39ZO crashed due to technical problems near

14872-605: The city of Sirte during the entire summer of 2016, but with limited results. During the 2015. and 2016., pro-GNA air force has launched over 600 airstrikes on both pro-LNA forces and ISIL militants in and around the city of Sirte, with vast majority of these strikes being conducted by pro-GNA aircraft stationed at the Misrata air force base (as seen by news camera on 4 September 2016. At the Misrata air force base - two MiG-23MLD, five G-2 Galeb , 10 L-39ZO Albatros , and one J-21 Jastreb fighter jets, as well as two Mi-24P combat attack helicopter and one Mi-8T transport helicopter). Also, by

15041-581: The civil war, how much, if any, remained intact afterwards is unknown. Many of the anti-aircraft guns captured by rebel forces were turned on Libyan Army ground forces after being bolted onto pick up trucks. Small arms reported in service included TT pistol , Beretta M12 , FN P90 , SKS , AK-47 , AK-74 , Pistol Mitralieră model 1963/1965 and AKM assault rifles, the FN F2000 , Soviet RPD machine gun, RPK machine gun , PK machine guns , DShK heavy machine gun, KPV heavy machine guns , SG-43 Goryunov , and

15210-567: The conversion of Semitic mimation to nunation in the singular. It is best reassessed as a separate language on the Central Semitic dialect continuum. It was also thought that Old Arabic coexisted alongside—and then gradually displaced— epigraphic Ancient North Arabian (ANA), which was theorized to have been the regional tongue for many centuries. ANA, despite its name, was considered a very distinct language, and mutually unintelligible, from "Arabic". Scholars named its variant dialects after

15379-402: The country armed forces. Libyan training and logistics suffered with the sheer amount of equipment purchased and the wide diversity of equipment types. Though the Libyan army had a large amount of fighting equipment at its disposal, the vast majority was bought in the 1970s and 1980s and was largely obsolete at the time of the 2011 Libyan Civil War . A high percentage remained in storage and

15548-506: The crew of five survived and was captured by rebel forces. At Brega a pro-Gaddafi Mirage F-1ED fighter jet was shot down by the rebel forces on 2 March 2011, thus leaving just one Mirage F-1BD trainer aircraft in possession of Gaddafi's loyalist forces, while that same day one pro-Gaddafi SU-22M-3K was damaged by rebel anti-aircraft fire at Brega (the rebel sources claimed that they shot it down). Several more pro-Gaddafi helicopters and fighter jets were reportedly shot down by rebel forces during

15717-477: The early 1990s at Al Abraq air force base , were quickly brought back to service by pro-LNA air force engineers and technicians. But despite that, heavy losses of pro-LNA air force continued. A fourth pro-LNA fighter jet, this time the recently restored MiG-23BN serial number "8985", crashed due to technical problems west of Benghazi on 6 July 2016, its pilot colonel Idris Al-Obeidi died in the crash. A fifth pro-LNA fighter jet, this time MiG-23ML serial number 26453,

15886-577: The emergence of Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include: There are several features which Classical Arabic, the modern Arabic varieties, as well as the Safaitic and Hismaic inscriptions share which are unattested in any other Central Semitic language variety, including the Dadanitic and Taymanitic languages of

16055-405: The encounter as a victory, using the fight as a justification for further purchases of modern armaments. In the case of Uganda, Libya had intervened on Idi Amin's behalf during his first confrontation with neighboring Tanzania in 1972 by airlifting a contingent of 4000 troops. During the invasion of Uganda by Tanzanian troops and Ugandan exiles in 1978, a new Libyan force estimated at 2,000 to 2,500

16224-728: The eve of the conquests: Northern and Central (Al-Jallad 2009). The modern dialects emerged from a new contact situation produced following the conquests. Instead of the emergence of a single or multiple koines, the dialects contain several sedimentary layers of borrowed and areal features, which they absorbed at different points in their linguistic histories. According to Veersteegh and Bickerton, colloquial Arabic dialects arose from pidginized Arabic formed from contact between Arabs and conquered peoples. Pidginization and subsequent creolization among Arabs and arabized peoples could explain relative morphological and phonological simplicity of vernacular Arabic compared to Classical and MSA. In around

16393-593: The fact that they participate in the innovations common to all forms of Arabic. The earliest attestation of continuous Arabic text in an ancestor of the modern Arabic script are three lines of poetry by a man named Garm(')allāhe found in En Avdat, Israel , and dated to around 125 CE. This is followed by the Namara inscription , an epitaph of the Lakhmid king Imru' al-Qays bar 'Amro, dating to 328 CE, found at Namaraa, Syria. From

16562-404: The fight for Brega between 2 March and 3 March, however this claims remain uncomfirmed. Several days later, on 4 March, one abandoned pro-Gaddafi Mi-8MT air ambulance helicopter serial number "2119" was captured by rebel forces at Ra's Lanuf airfield. Also, on 5 March 2011, rebels shot down near Ra's Lanuf a pro-Gaddafi Su-24MK bomber, serial number "38" of the 1124th Libyan air force squadron with

16731-636: The fight for Ra's Lanuf between 5 March and 7 March, however these claims remain uncomfirmed. Exactly how many and what types of aircraft have been shot down were not confirmed by Jamahiriya government or independent sources. Using air power, the Libyan military checked the opposition advance westwards, towards Bin Jawad in early March. By 11 March, the pro-Gaddafi air force was running out of quality jet fuel, and attempts were made to bribe Maltese Air Force officials in order to purchase more fuel. On 13 March, Ali Atiyya ,

16900-552: The first half of March on advancing Gaddafi forces in eastern Libya, with the hardest day of combat for the Free Libya air force being 19 March, when pro-Gaddafi forces tried to capture Benghazi. But rebel air force suffered heavy losses in process—according to opposition sources, between 1 March and 19 March, rebel air force launched a total of 38 combat sorties (nine of which were conducted by Mi-24 combat attack helicopters) against advancing pro-Gaddafi forces in eastern Libya, but lost in

17069-464: The first pro-LNA MiG-21bis crashed in the city of Tobruk on 2 September 2014 due to pilot error during a pull-up maneuver while performing in a memorial flypast for another pilot, Ibrahim Al-Manifi, who was also killed in a plane crash few days earlier (Islamists claim that they shot it down), killing its pilot Rafa al-Alani and at least one civilian on the ground. Another pro-LNA fighter jet, now MiG-21UM, crashed due to technical problems during takeoff for

17238-535: The first three months of 1987, Libya lost almost all the territory it had held in Chad, between $ 500 million and $ 1 billion in weapons and one-third of its 15,000 troops. Over 4,494 Libyan soldiers were killed by Chad's forces between January and March 1987. The Libyan Army was defeated by a force substantially inferior in numbers and equipment. Chad's victory was the result of a combination of Western funding, weapons and intelligence and Chadian courage, tactics and leadership. France provided air cover and troops to protect

17407-501: The fourth most useful language for business, after English, Mandarin Chinese , and French. Arabic is written with the Arabic alphabet , an abjad script that is written from right to left . Arabic is usually classified as a Central Semitic language . Linguists still differ as to the best classification of Semitic language sub-groups. The Semitic languages changed between Proto-Semitic and

17576-400: The ground at Misrata airport together with two Mi-35 helicopters, but satellite images later showed that the five fixed wing aircraft destroyed were actually MiG-23s. A Belgian Air Force F-16 hit a Libyan People's Air Force Su-22UM3K plane on the ground during an operation on 27 March. On 9 April, a Free Libyan air force Mi-25D combat attack helicopter (serial number "854"—the same one that

17745-492: The ground. Pro-LNA Libyan air force lost at least six to eight helicopters – Mi-8, Mi-14, Mi-24/Mi-35 and Mi-17 – between 2014 and 2017, most of them crashed due to technical malfunctions, but one pro-LNA Mi-35 combat attack helicopter was shot down at Ras Lanouf and another pro-LNA Mi-35 combat attack helicopter was abandoned by the pro-LNA forces at Ras Lanouf air force base during a pro-GNA militant surprise offensive in March 2017,

17914-414: The ground. Also, on 29 July 2017, a sixth pro-LNA fighter jet, now MiG-23UB serial number 8008, was shot down by the Islamists during its bombing raid on Islamist positions in the town of Derna. Its pilot Adel Al-Jihani ejected safely but was heavily wounded and then captured by the Islamists; he died of his wounds while in captivity. Several pro-LNA MiG-21 fighter jets were also lost between 2014 and 2017 –

18083-1033: The helicopter was subsequently destroyed on the ground by the pro-GNA militants in order to prevent its recapture by the pro-LNA forces. Before that, on 17 July 2016, a pro-LNA air force Mi-17 helicopter was shot down by Islamists with a Chinese-made FN-6 MANPADs near Magrun, 70 kilometers south of Benghazi, killing its entire crew and all personnel on board—three pro-LNA Libyan crew members and three French DGSE special forces intelligence officials. After suffering heavy losses in aircraft and air force personnel during its campaign against Islamist forces in eastern Libya throughout 2016 and 2017, Haftar's pro-LNA Libyan air force received several MiG-23MLD fighter jets from Russia in February 2017, as well as eight former Egyptian Air Force MiG-21MF fighter jets and at least 10 Mi-8T helicopters from Egypt (in addition to earlier deliveries of dozens of MiG-21MF fighter jets and Mi-8T and Mi-24 helicopters from UAE and Egypt during 2014 and 2015). Egypt and

18252-579: The inclusion of new words into their published standard dictionaries. They also publish old and historical Arabic manuscripts. In 1997, a bureau of Arabization standardization was added to the Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Organization of the Arab League . These academies and organizations have worked toward the Arabization of the sciences, creating terms in Arabic to describe new concepts, toward

18421-613: The introduction of the fighters. Serviceability of the F-5s declined after the 1969 coup and it appears that most may have eventually been sold to Turkey . During the months following the 1969 coup d'état, Libya distanced itself from the United Kingdom and the United States . Nevertheless, in 1971, eight C-130 Hs were delivered by the United States. Instead, close ties were developed with France . Accordingly, an order for 110 Dassault Mirage 5s , twelve Fouga Magisters , ten Aérospatiale Alouette IIIs and nine Aérospatiale SA 321 Super Frelons

18590-412: The killed was Hussien Werfalli, commander of rebel helicopter squadron at Benina air force base, who defected to the opposition from Ghardabiya air force base just days earlier). Rebels claimed to have shot down what appeared to be a MiG-21 outside of Bohadi. On 17 March, a pro-Gaddafi Su-22UM3K fighter bomber was shot down over Benina AB , the pilot, reportedly an Algerian mercenary, ejected safely and

18759-608: The language. Software and books with tapes are an important part of Arabic learning, as many of Arabic learners may live in places where there are no academic or Arabic language school classes available. Radio series of Arabic language classes are also provided from some radio stations. A number of websites on the Internet provide online classes for all levels as a means of distance education; most teach Modern Standard Arabic, but some teach regional varieties from numerous countries. The tradition of Arabic lexicography extended for about

18928-524: The late 1950s, Libya had an insignificant military, given its small population and lack of resources. King Idris deliberately divided his security forces into a regular army and a variety of gendarmerie forces. These gendarmes primary mission was to prevent any dissidence from the Armed Forces. After the discovery of oil, the Royal Libyan Army was slowly expanded with British assistance and by 1969, it

19097-599: The late 6th century AD, a relatively uniform intertribal "poetic koine" distinct from the spoken vernaculars developed based on the Bedouin dialects of Najd , probably in connection with the court of al-Ḥīra . During the first Islamic century, the majority of Arabic poets and Arabic-writing persons spoke Arabic as their mother tongue. Their texts, although mainly preserved in far later manuscripts, contain traces of non-standardized Classical Arabic elements in morphology and syntax. Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali ( c.  603 –689)

19266-420: The latter is taught in formal education settings. However, there have been studies reporting some degree of comprehension of stories told in the standard variety among preschool-aged children. The relation between Modern Standard Arabic and these dialects is sometimes compared to that of Classical Latin and Vulgar Latin vernaculars (which became Romance languages ) in medieval and early modern Europe. MSA

19435-883: The many national or regional varieties which constitute the everyday spoken language. Colloquial Arabic has many regional variants; geographically distant varieties usually differ enough to be mutually unintelligible , and some linguists consider them distinct languages. However, research indicates a high degree of mutual intelligibility between closely related Arabic variants for native speakers listening to words, sentences, and texts; and between more distantly related dialects in interactional situations. The varieties are typically unwritten. They are often used in informal spoken media, such as soap operas and talk shows , as well as occasionally in certain forms of written media such as poetry and printed advertising. Hassaniya Arabic , Maltese , and Cypriot Arabic are only varieties of modern Arabic to have acquired official recognition. Hassaniya

19604-444: The mid-1970s, 20 CH-47 Chinook heavy transport helicopters were also acquired from Italy, 14 of which were transferred to the army during the 1990s. With all of these acquisitions, within a few years, the number of aircraft on strength in the LAAF increased drastically. However, there was no way of training enough pilots and ground crews to operate all of these. Hence, agreements were made with friendly countries to operate some of

19773-419: The name "Operation Odyssey Lightning", which helped the pro-GNA forces to advance in the city - by the time Sirte was finally captured by pro-GNA forces on 6 December 2016. and "Operation Odyssey Lightning" declared concluded by AFRICOM on 20 December 2016., US air force conducted 495 precision airstrikes on ISIL positions in and around the city of Sirte, killing around 800 to 900 ISIL militants. Since 2016, both

19942-768: The need for a lexical injection in Arabic, to suit concepts of the industrial and post-industrial age (such as sayyārah سَيَّارَة 'automobile' or bākhirah باخِرة 'steamship'). In response, a number of Arabic academies modeled after the Académie française were established with the aim of developing standardized additions to the Arabic lexicon to suit these transformations, first in Damascus (1919), then in Cairo (1932), Baghdad (1948), Rabat (1960), Amman (1977), Khartum  [ ar ] (1993), and Tunis (1993). They review language development, monitor new words and approve

20111-555: The new Russian Federation , Soviet/Russian support was drastically curtailed. The last major delivery of Soviet aircraft to the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya was six Sukhoi Su-24s in March/April 1989. In January 2008 Libya bought 4 ATR 42 MP maritime patrol aircraft from Italy’s Alenia. Also, in the mid-1990s, Libya paid for spares for Syrian Arab Air Force Su-24MK fighter-bombers, in exchange for Syrian help to operate Libya's own Su-24s. In an expression of gratitude for this cooperation,

20280-707: The next two days, launching multiple airstrikes up until the night of 19 March, when a no-fly zone was finally implemented by NATO forces, grounding both rebel and pro-Gaddafi fighter jets from then on. In the late afternoon of 19 March, first coalition airstrikes were launched against the Gaddafi regime, with French fighter jets bombing pro-Gaddafi tank columns at the entrance to Benghazi, stopping their offensive against rebel forces in Benghazi. US and British warships then launched more than 120 Tomahawk cruise missiles against Jamahiriya air defences and four US B-2 stealth bombers attacked and destroyed several Jamahiriya airfields during

20449-424: The night of 19 March, with more airstrikes and cruise missile strikes being launched against the pro-Gaddafi regime during the next several days, destroying the combat capabilities of pro-Gaddafi Libyan air force and anti-air defences. On 22 March, a US air force F15E fighter jet crashed near Benghazi due to mechanical problems; both pilots ejected safely and were then rescued by US search and rescue teams, and during

20618-424: The one whose sound is heard but whose person remains unseen. Now the term al-hatif is used for a telephone. Therefore, the process of tawleed can express the needs of modern civilization in a manner that would appear to be originally Arabic. In the case of Arabic, educated Arabs of any nationality can be assumed to speak both their school-taught Standard Arabic as well as their native dialects, which depending on

20787-461: The opposing New General National Congress flew a limited number of air operations against each other. The air force of the internationally recognized government could receive some limited supplies of MiG-21s and Mi-8 from the Egyptian Air Force too. Libyan aircraft carried out airstrikes against Islamists during the conflict, but have sustained considerable casualties. The biggest setback for

20956-427: The opposition during the first half of March. On the same day, on 13 March 2011, according to the news published on 20 March by the opposition media wing Al Manara Media, pilot Muhammad Mokhtar Osman crashed his fighter jet, an MiG-23BN, on Bab al-Azizia compound in Tripoli in an apparent kamikaze-style suicide attack on pro-Gaddafi military high command, in which Khamis Gaddafi was heavily wounded and died from his wounds

21125-537: The opposition sources, most of Libyan People's Air Force fighter jets and helicopters that were still serviceable were relocated to Ghardabiya air force base near Sirte and Mitiga air force base near Tripoli. On 21 February 2011, two senior LPAF pilots, Colonel Ali al-Rabiti and Colonel Abdullah Salheen, defected to the opposition – they flew their Mirage F-1ED fighter jets, serial numbers "502" and "508" to Malta and requested political asylum after defying orders to bomb protesters. On 17 February, an AN-26 transport plane

21294-561: The opposition sources, on that day rebel MiG-23BN fighter jet and Mi-24 combat attack helicopter first sank two Gaddafi loyalist warships and damaged a third Gaddafi loyalist warship near the coast of Ajadabiyah , and then bombed Gaddafi loyalist tank columns outside of Brega and Ajadabiyah. Also, on that same day, rebel MiG-23BN fighter jets bombed the Ghardabiya air force base , damaging its runway. On 16 March 2011, pilots of one MiG-21bis and one MiG-21UM fighter jets which took off from

21463-426: The outskirts of Tripoli, while pro-LNA fighter jets targeted pro-GNA positions at Misrata, Tripoli International airport and throughout the city of Tripoli. On 10 April, during heavy fighting south of Tripoli, pro-LNA military 166th brigade claimed to have shot down with a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun a pro-GNA L-39ZO Albatros fighter jet, which flew from the Misrata air force base. On 14 April 2019, pro-GNA forces shot down

21632-549: The overhaul of Arabic grammar first proposed by Al-Jahiz 200 years prior. The Maghrebi lexicographer Ibn Manzur compiled Lisān al-ʿArab ( لسان العرب , "Tongue of Arabs"), a major reference dictionary of Arabic, in 1290. Charles Ferguson 's koine theory claims that the modern Arabic dialects collectively descend from a single military koine that sprang up during the Islamic conquests; this view has been challenged in recent times. Ahmad al-Jallad proposes that there were at least two considerably distinct types of Arabic on

21801-429: The pilot failed to eject, and was killed as a result. During the first half of June, heavy bombings by both pro-GNA forces and pro-LNA forces continued throughout western Libya, with pro-GNA forces extensively bombing pro-LNA positions, destroying pro-LNA tanks, ammunition depots and troop concentrations - on 19 June 2019, pro-GNA forces claimed that their fighter jets bombed pro-LNA Al Watiya air force base, destroying on

21970-477: The post–2011 air force inherited some intact Mirages, C-130Hs and CH-47s following the civil war. As the situation deteriorated with the country sliding into the Second Libyan Civil War , any ambitious plan was scrapped in face of the reality with the remaining Gaddafi regime era air-frames divided between the opposing factions. In the following months, both the internationally recognized government and

22139-524: The pre-civil war Libyan Army had been effectively destroyed by a combination of NATO air strikes and combat with rebel forces, with the Libyan Army forces still loyal to Gaddafi abandoning their posts in Tripoli as the rebels took the city, and the remnants of Gaddafi's loyalist army holed up in Sirte , Sabha and Bani Walid . In 2009 the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated that

22308-416: The pro-GNA air force to bomb pro-LNA positions and leaving because of that, which severely limited their fighting capabilities. Probably because of that, and because of lack of progress against ISIL militants in the battle for Sirte in 2016., pro-GNA forces formally requested the US air force to start conducting air strikes against ISIL militants in and around the city of Sirte starting from 1 August 2016. under

22477-521: The pro-GNA forces happened on 9 August 2014, when pro-LNA forces captured al-Watiya air force base, where 10 to 12 decommissioned Su-22 bombers, several Mi-25 combat attack helicopters and possibly up to 21 decommissioned Mirage F-1ED fighter jets, as well as all spare parts and weapons for Mirage F-1ED and Su-22 aircraft, were stored there—this defeat crippled the pro-GNA air forces, because now they lost their main source of spare parts for maintaining their Mirage F-1ED fighter jets. The al-Watiya air force base

22646-647: The process two fighter jets and one helicopter, suffering eight pilots and gunmen killed. On 17 March 2011., the UN Security council adopted the United Nations Security Council resolution 1973 which legitimised the military operation against the pro-Gaddafi regime - with 10 votes in favour, 0 against and 5 abstentions, a no-fly zone was established over the whole of Libya with the United Nations Security Council resolution 1973. Despite that, both pro-Gaddafi and pro-rebel air forces continued their sorties for

22815-467: The rebel aircraft was shot down by its own air defenses during an attempt to bomb advancing pro-Gaddafi tank columns near Benghazi. According to the opposition sources, rebel MiG-21 and MiG-23 fighter jets, Mi-24 combat attack helicopters, 14 rebel fighter pilots, 50 technicians and hundreds of ground personnel, all stationed at the Benina air force base, were crucial in their defence of Benghazi from pro-Gaddafi offensive, launching multiple airstrikes during

22984-437: The rebel-held Benina air force base, damaging three passenger aircraft—two YAK-40 and one Boeing 737-26D operated by Air Libya—that were parked there on the runway. On 19 March 2011, a rebel MiG-23BN was shot down over Benghazi by rebel air defence forces in a case of mistaken identity. The pilot, colonel Mohammed Mbarak al-Okali ejected but at a very low altitude, and was killed as a result. BBC News reported on 20 March that

23153-608: The rebels, the Libyan Army began a counteroffensive and started pushing back the rebel fighters. On 17 March 2011, the United Nations Security Council passed United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 , authorizing the use of "all necessary means" to protect civilians in Libya, "excluding a foreign occupation force". On Saturday, 19 March 2011, France began enforcement of the resolution by deploying French fighter aircraft over Libyan airspace. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from this source, which

23322-410: The region may be mutually unintelligible. Some of these dialects can be considered to constitute separate languages which may have "sub-dialects" of their own. When educated Arabs of different dialects engage in conversation (for example, a Moroccan speaking with a Lebanese), many speakers code-switch back and forth between the dialectal and standard varieties of the language, sometimes even within

23491-497: The rescue of the US pilots, US search and rescue teams shot and wounded six libyan civilians on the ground. On 23 March 2011, British Air Vice-Marshal Greg Bagwell was quoted by the BBC saying that the Libyan People's Air Force "no longer exists as a fighting force" and that Libyan air defenses had been damaged to the extent that NATO forces could now operate over Libyan airspace "with impunity." On 24 March, several media sources reported that

23660-399: The rule of Gaddafi started in Libya. They were inspired by similar protests in other Arab countries . Gaddafi used police and mercenary forces to violently suppress the protest. This resulted in an armed uprising in Libya between pro-government and anti-government rebel forces. Parts of the army defected to the rebels and weapon depots were plundered by protesters. After initial advances by

23829-399: The runway a pro-LNA Su-22 fighter bomber just as it was taking off, however this claims remain unconfirmed by independent sources. Arabic language Arabic (endonym: اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ , romanized :  al-ʿarabiyyah , pronounced [al ʕaraˈbijːa] , or عَرَبِيّ , ʿarabīy , pronounced [ˈʕarabiː] or [ʕaraˈbij] )

23998-458: The same sentence. The issue of whether Arabic is one language or many languages is politically charged, in the same way it is for the varieties of Chinese , Hindi and Urdu , Serbian and Croatian , Scots and English, etc. In contrast to speakers of Hindi and Urdu who claim they cannot understand each other even when they can, speakers of the varieties of Arabic will claim they can all understand each other even when they cannot. While there

24167-474: The same time, Ukrainians started to work on the restoration of two MiG-25 and one MiG-25UB aircraft, which were mainly used for reconnaissance of enemy positions from the air. These aircraft were one of several dozen Libyan MiG-25 fighter jets stored for decades after being decommissioned at Al-Juffrah air force base (and so were spared from destruction in NATO-led intervention in 2011 because they weren't considered

24336-458: The sole example of Medieval linguist Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati – who, while a scholar of the Arabic language, was not ethnically Arab – Medieval scholars of the Arabic language made no efforts at studying comparative linguistics, considering all other languages inferior. In modern times, the educated upper classes in the Arab world have taken a nearly opposite view. Yasir Suleiman wrote in 2011 that "studying and knowing English or French in most of

24505-556: The standardization of these new terms throughout the Arabic-speaking world, and toward the development of Arabic as a world language . This gave rise to what Western scholars call Modern Standard Arabic. From the 1950s, Arabization became a postcolonial nationalist policy in countries such as Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Sudan. Arabic usually refers to Standard Arabic, which Western linguists divide into Classical Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic. It could also refer to any of

24674-430: The summer of 2016, pro-GNA air forces run out of both spare parts, fuel, and even money, and without being paid, most of the mercenaries and engineers that were by then serving in pro-GNA air force just left, crippling its fighting capabilities. Pilots were another problem for the pro-GNA air force – both mercenary pilots and local Libyan pilots refused on many occasions to "bomb the Libyan people", refusing to obey orders of

24843-467: The supply of weapons and other military equipment, as both the Egyptian air force and the United Arab Emirates air force conducted multiple airstrikes on both pro-GNA forces and Islamist positions through eastern Libya between 2015 and 2017. In April 2019, Haftar's army launched an offensive to take Tripoli from the UN-backed Government of National Accord , during which Air Force planes loyal to

25012-526: The town of Derna, both of its pilots ejected safely and were then captured by the Islamists. Also, on 18 May, pro-GNA militias launched a successful surprise offensive on the pro-LNA Brak al-Shati air force base in the area of Fezzan in southern Libya, killing over 140 pro-LNA soldiers and civilians (of which 40 were executed after being captured), heavily damaging the Brak al-Shati air force base, and also destroyed one inoperable pro-LNA L-39ZO Albatros fighter jet on

25181-501: The towns where the inscriptions were discovered (Dadanitic, Taymanitic, Hismaic, Safaitic). However, most arguments for a single ANA language or language family were based on the shape of the definite article, a prefixed h-. It has been argued that the h- is an archaism and not a shared innovation, and thus unsuitable for language classification, rendering the hypothesis of an ANA language family untenable. Safaitic and Hismaic, previously considered ANA, should be considered Old Arabic due to

25350-539: The type had been retired. In the 1970s and '80s Libyan MiGs and Tupolevs were common visitors to international airspace, close to Italy and NATO bases. On 19 July 1980, a crashed Libyan Arab Air Force MiG-23 was discovered on the Sila Mountains near Castelsilano , southern Italy. The event is speculated to be connected to the loss of Itavia Flight 870 a few weeks earlier. The LAAF lost a total of four aircraft to United States Navy F-14 Tomcats in two incidents over

25519-515: The unit also had a small number of Tripolitanian volunteers and Sudanese men living in Egypt recruited by the future king of Libya, Sayed Idris and led by British officers. The battalions of the Libyan Army Force were largely used as auxiliaries, constructing defensive works, patrolling, and guarding military installations and prisoners, though they saw combat during the siege of Tobruk . With

25688-499: The withdrawal of Axis forces from Libya in 1943, the Force changed its name to "The Cyrenaica Defence Force" and was disbanded shortly after, with most of its members joining the newly formed gerdarmerie in the British administered Libya . When Libya gained its independence in 1951, veterans of the original Sanusi army formed the nucleus of the Royal Libyan Army. Until the discovery of oil in

25857-451: The world have classes that teach Arabic as part of their foreign languages , Middle Eastern studies , and religious studies courses. Arabic language schools exist to assist students to learn Arabic outside the academic world. There are many Arabic language schools in the Arab world and other Muslim countries. Because the Quran is written in Arabic and all Islamic terms are in Arabic, millions of Muslims (both Arab and non-Arab) study

26026-447: Was a mixture of Egyptian doctrine which was adopted after the 1969 coup and socialist principles derived from the concepts of a People's Army. In 2011, the IISS estimated that Libya had more than 2,421 artillery pieces including 444 self-propelled guns , more than 647 towed artillery pieces, 830 multiple rocket launchers , and 500 mortars . A significant amount was put into storage prior to

26195-514: Was actively restored and modernized by Egypt and UAE military, and pro-LNA air force conducted numerous air strikes on Islamist positions throughout eastern Libya, especially in Derna and Benghazi, during all of 2016 and 2017, but suffered heavy losses in aircraft and personnel in progress – one pro-LNA MiG-23ML fighter jets, serial number "6472", crashed due to technical problems on 4 January 2016 near Benghazi, at Benina air force base after returning from

26364-499: Was allowed to keep its stockpile of FROG-7 and Scud-B missiles. In 1968, King Idris signed a contract with the British for the installation of an air defense system to be delivered in five years at a cost of US$ 300 million. The British would supply anti-air missile systems, radars, and provide training as well, but these plans were cancelled after the monarchy was overthrown in 1969, and Gaddafi sought Soviet assistance instead. In 2011

26533-408: Was captured by rebel forces. On that same day, on 17 March 2011, a "Free Libya Air Force" MiG-21UM crashed after take off from Benina airport due to technical problems, the pilot ejected safely. The rebel MiG-21UM that crashed on 17 March was flown from Ghardabiya Air Base near Sirte to Benina by a defecting pilot the day before. On that same day on 17 March 2011, Gaddafi loyalist fighter jets bombed

26702-463: Was captured by the rebel forces at Benina air force base on 23 February 2011) bombed positions of Gaddafi's soldiers at Ajadabiya, but it was then shot down by Gaddafi loyalist forces; its pilot captain Hussein al-Warfali was killed. Also on the same day on 9 April, a Free Libyan air force MiG-23BN fighter jet was intercepted by NATO fighter jets over Benghazi, and escorted back to its base in accordance with

26871-433: Was destroyed on the ground by rebel forces, while two more helicopters (Mi-25D combat attack helicopter serial number "854", and one Mi-14 transport helicopter serial number "1406") were captured by the rebel forces. Rebels claimed to have shot down Jamahiriya fighter jets and attack helicopters over Brega and Ra's Lanuf. Another pro-Gaddafi helicopter (either Mi-8 or Mi-24) was shot down at Misrata by rebel forces with MANPADS,

27040-484: Was estimated to have a strength of 6,500 men, about half the size of the armed police (largely recruited from tribes considered loyal by the king). King Idris, fearing a military led coup largely neglected the Royal Libyan Army, refusing to provide it with tanks, artillery and armored personnel carriers that could potentially be used by mutineers against him, relying instead on the Cyrenaica Defense Force and

27209-418: Was one of the few that escaped total destruction during the NATO-led intervention in 2011 because in its 43 hardened aircraft shelters were stored almost exclusively decommissioned aircraft, so they were not deemed a threat to coalition forces. Just several munition depots located near the airbase and only three hardened aircraft shelters, one where the last operational pro-Gaddafi Mirage F-1BD trainer fighter jet

27378-588: Was reportedly captured by prostesters in Kufra, while on 20 February, a pro-Gaddafi helicopter (either Mi-8 or Mi-24) was reportedly shot down at Bayda. On 23 February 2011, pilot Abdessalam Attiyah al-Abdali and co-pilot Ali Omar al-Kadhafi—crew of a Sukhoi-22 —ejected with parachutes near Ajdabiya, 161 kilometres (100 mi) west of Benghazi, after refusing orders to bomb the city of Benghazi, thus crashing their Su-22 bomber. Anti-Gaddafi forces and Syrian opposition groups claim that Syrian pilots were flying attacks for

27547-612: Was sent, assisting in the defence of Entebbe and Kampala by covering road junctions with armored equipment. Unprepared and undermotivated Libyan troops were quickly routed in attacks by foot soldiers. As many as 600 Libyans were estimated to have been killed during the Ugandan operation, and the remainder were hurriedly withdrawn. The troops had been led to believe that they were being airlifted into Uganda for training exercises with Ugandan units. After nearly two decades, Col. Muammar Gaddafi's attempts to annex Northern Chad ended in 1987. In just

27716-564: Was shot down on 15 January 2017 by the Islamists during its bombing raid on Islamist positions in Ganfouda/Bosnib area, Benghazi, its pilot colonel Younes Aldinali ejected safely. In April 2017, as a response to pro-LNA air force bombing attack on pro-GNA Tamanhint air force base near Sabha in southern Libya on 5 April 2017, pro-GNA L-39ZO Albatros aircraft successfully bombed pro-LNA Brak al-Shati air force base, 80 kilometers north of Sabha, reportedly destroying one pro-LNA MiG-23 fighter jet on

27885-632: Was shot down over N'Djamena by a French MIM-23 HAWK battery. In November 1986 , Libyan jets carried out countless attacks and bombings against Zaghawa and Toubou civilian populations, ethnic groups mostly loyal to the Chadian government. During these aerial terror campaigns a large number of villages in the B.E.T region were completely devastated, a large number of people were killed and thousands fled to seek refuge in caves or crossed into refugee camps in Darfur . The Government of Chad denounced these attacks on civilians as genocide . The Chadians seized

28054-660: Was signed in December 1969. Negotiations for the purchase of Soviet military aircraft only started in 1973, in light of the experiences of the Yom Kippur War . These resulted in the delivery of 54 MiG-23 MS interceptors and MiG-23UB trainers, 35 MiG-23BN attack aircraft, and 64 MiG-21bis fighters and MiG-21UM trainers. Fourteen Tupolev Tu-22 bombers were also bought in this period. Relations with France were maintained, and 16 Dassault Mirage F1 AD, 6 F1BD and 16 F1ED were ordered in 1975. Lastly, 240 SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 trainers were bought from Italy , as well as 50 Soko G-2 Galebs . In

28223-564: Was stationed, and two where the last two operational pro-Gaddafi Su-22M3 bombers were stationed were destroyed. One of the pro-GNA fighter jets, a MiG-23UB aircraft, was shot down on 22 March 2015 at Al-Zintan by pro-LNA fighters with an Igla MANPADs while bombing the pro-LNA positions at Al-Zintan airport. A second pro-GNA fighter jet, this time MiG-23ML aircraft, crashed on 22 December 2016 at Tarhouna due to technical problems—both of its pilots, Mohammed Gadosha and Ezzidin Madani, were killed. At

28392-735: Was the branch of the Armed Forces of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , the Libyan Arab Republic and the Kingdom of Libya responsible for ground warfare . The origin of the Royal Libyan Army can be traced back to the Libyan Arab Force (popularly known as the Sanusi Army). Established in August 1940 to fight against the Italians, it was a unit of Arab exiles mostly of Cyrenaican origin, although

28561-567: Was then captured by pro-LNA forces. On 12 May, it was confirmed by russian journalists that pro-LNA air forces have during their western Libya offensive extensively used an Il-18D transport aircraft, serial ER-ICS, which is being flown by an unknown foreign company from Kazakhstan (it previously belonged to Moldovan Sky Prim'Air company, and was used by pro-LNA air forces as transport since 2015), for an aerial supply bridge, to regularly transport ammunition from Benina air force base to Gharyan. On 13 June 2019, pro-LNA forces claimed that they shot down

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