The Libyan Army on Monday said it seized a helicopter belonging to putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar's militia, which made an emergency landing south of Abu Grein area east of the capital Tripoli.

"The pilot was not present and is likely to have fled toward the desert for fear of capture," Abdulhadi Drah, an army spokesperson for Sirte-Jufra Liberation Command, told Anadolu Agency (AA).

On Aug. 27, the Libyan Army announced the first breach of Libya's cease-fire by Haftar's militia, which fired more than a dozen Grad rockets at the army positions west of Sirte.

Libya has been torn by civil war since the ouster of late ruler Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

The Government of National Accord (GNA) was founded in 2015 under a U.N.-led agreement, but efforts for a long-term political settlement failed due to a military offensive by forces loyal to Haftar.

The U.N. recognizes Fayez Sarraj's government as the country's legitimate authority as Tripoli continues to battle Haftar's militias since April 2019 in a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives.