At least 28 people were killed in an attack on a military
academy in the Libyan capital late on Saturday, the health minister of the
Tripoli-based government said.
Tripoli, Libya’s capital city, is facing an offensive by
military commander Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army that began in April
2019.
There has been an increase in air strikes and shelling
around Tripoli in recent weeks, with fears that fighting could escalate further
after Turkey’s parliament voted to allow a troop deployment in support of the
GNA.
Forces allied with the GNA described Saturday’s attack on
the military camp at Al-Hadhba as “an aerial bombing” launched by their eastern
rivals.
An LNA spokesperson denied involvement.
GNA Health Minister, Hamid bin Omar, told Reuters in a phone
call that the number of dead and wounded was still rising.
Tripoli ambulance service spokesperson, Osama Ali, said some
body parts could not be immediately counted by forensic experts.
Earlier, the ambulance service appealed for a temporary
ceasefire to allow its members to retrieve the bodies of five civilians killed
on As Sidra Road area South of central Tripoli, and evacuate families living in
there.
Emergency teams withdrew after coming under fire while
trying to access the area on Saturday, it added.
An increase in air strikes and shelling in and around Tripoli
has caused the deaths of at least 11 civilians since early December and shut
down health facilities and schools, the U.N. mission in Libya said on Friday.
Rockets and shelling also shut down Tripoli’s only
functioning airport on Friday
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