The government blames the self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Khalifa Hifter, for the airstrike
An airstrike hit a detention center for migrants early
Wednesday in the Libyan capital, killing at least 40 people, a health official
in the country’s U.N.-supported government said.
The airstrike targeting the detention centre in Tripoli’s
Tajoura neighbourhood also wounded 80 migrants, said Malek Merset, a spokesman
for the Health Ministry. Mr. Merset posted photos of migrants who were being
taken in ambulances to hospitals.
In a statement, the U.N.-supported government blamed the
self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Khalifa Hifter, for the airstrike.
The LNA launched an offensive against the weak Tripoli-based
government in April. Hifter’s forces control much of the country’s east and
south but were dealt a significant blow last week when militias allied with the
Tripoli government reclaimed the strategic town of Gharyan, about 100
kilometers (62 miles) from the capital.
Gharyan had been a key supply route for the LNA forces.
The fighting for Tripoli has threatened to plunge Libya into
another bout of violence on the scale of the 2011 conflict that ousted longtime
dictator Moammar Gadhafi and led to his death.
Thousands of migrants are detained in Libya after being
apprehended by local forces funded by the European Union and are now caught up
in the armed conflict.
The centres have limited food and other supplies, and
international agencies have called for speeding up resettlement of the
migrants.
0 Comments