Al-Watiya Air Base (Okba Ibn Nafa Air Base)

Al-Watiya Air Base, also known as Okba Ibn Nafa Air Base, is a military facility in the Nuqat al Khams district of western Libya. It is located 27 kilometers east of the Tunisian border and 125 kilometers from Tripoli.

Base infrastructure includes munition depots and 43 hardened aircraft shelters. During the 2011 NATO-led intervention, three shelters housing a Mirage F-1BD trainer and two Su-22M3 bombers, along with nearby munition depots, were destroyed. The remaining shelters primarily stored decommissioned aircraft and were not targeted.

During the Libyan Civil War, control of the facility changed between factions. Pro-Libyan National Army (LNA) forces captured the installation on August 9, 2014. The base stored decommissioned Su-22 bombers, Mi-25 attack helicopters, Mirage F-1ED fighter jets, and associated spare parts. Pro-LNA forces utilized these stores to return several Su-22 and Mirage F-1ED aircraft to active service between 2014 and 2015. The base supported LNA operations, serving as the launch point for MiG-21 fighter jets during the April 2019 offensive on Tripoli.

Government of National Accord (GNA) forces besieged Al-Watiya in April 2020 and captured the installation on May 18, 2020. Upon taking the base, GNA forces seized a Pantsir-S1 system, which was subsequently removed by United States forces for examination. Following the GNA takeover, the base hosted a Turkish garrison equipped with MIM-23 Hawk missiles and a KORAL Electronic Warfare System. On July 4, 2020, unidentified foreign warplanes bombed the facility, destroying the air defense and electronic warfare systems. This attack resulted in the withdrawal of a portion of the Turkish garrison.