Some 40 people have reportedly been killed and another 80 injured after a detention facility housing predominantly African migrants was hit in an alleged airstrike on Tuesday night, Reuters and AFP reported, citing health officials.
The Government of National Accord’s Presidential Council is blaming the LNA, which is run by strongman Khalifa Haftar. In a statement on Wednesday, the council urged the UN to condemn the bombing and send a fact-finding mission to the site. It called the incident “mass murder” and a possible war crime. The LNA, which on Monday said it would launch a new offensive on Tripoli, denied responsibility for the alleged raid, pointing the finger instead at Tripoli-allied militias. It claimed that Tripoli-allied forces hit the center after the LNA carried out a precision strike on the militias’ positions. The UN refugee agency UNHCR voiced concerns over the incident, stating that “civilians should never be a target.”