The warplanes came under cover of darkness on August 18th, bombing several sites in and near Tripoli, Libya's capital, that have been associated with Islamist militias. Few Libyans know for sure who was piloting the aircraft or who had sent them. Some close to Khalifa Haftar, a former general whose forces have been fighting Islamist militias mainly in Benghazi, the country's second city to the east, have claimed responsibility, though the strikes were probably beyond the capacity of Libya's own depleted air force. The government of Egypt to the east, known to be worried by the Islamists bidding for power in neighbouring Libya, generally applauds attacks on them and may quietly back Mr Haftar but is loth to intervene directly. To the west the Algerian government, no less hostile to the Islamists, has been widely rumoured to have backed the aerial assault. In any event, the air raids have done nothing to end the prevailing chaos. They may even have made it worse.
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