TRIPOLI ( Halbeeg News) – At least 40 people have been killed in an air raid at a detention center for refugees and migrants in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, according to health and emergency officials.
Malek Mersek, a spokesman for the state emergency medical services, said 80 others were wounded in the attack late on Tuesday.
The centre, which is located next to a military camp in the eastern suburb of Tajoura, houses more than 600 people, but the part that was hit held some 150 male refugees and migrants from African countries such as Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia.
The United Nations-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) blamed the raid on the forces of Libyan renegade General Khalifa Haftar whose self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) has been fighting to seize Tripoli for the past three months.
“This crime came after the statements of the air force commander of Haftar’s Libyan National Army, Muhammad al-Manfour, and therefore it is he who bears its legal and moral responsibility,” Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha told al-Wasat state radio.
On Monday, Manfour said aerial bombardment will be stepped up because “traditional means” to “liberate Tripoli” had been exhausted, and urged residents to stay away from what he called “confrontation areas”.
Pictures published by Libyan officials showed African migrants undergoing surgery in a hospital after the attack.
Libya is a key departure point for migrants from Africa and Arab countries trying to reach Italy by boat, but many get picked up by the Libyan coastguard supported by the European Union.
Thousands are being held in government-run detention centers in what human rights groups say are often inhuman conditions.
Tajoura, east of Tripoli’s centre, is home to several military camps of forces allied to Tripoli-based GNA.
Source: AJazeera English
Discussion about this post