40 killed in air strike on Libya migrant centre; many injured

At least 40 migrants were killed and dozens injured in an alleged airstrike by the forces loyal to Marshal Khalifa Haftar that hit a detention centre in Tripoli, according to an official late on Tuesday.

According to the source, the attack was carried out overnight by F-16 fighter-bombers taking part in Haftar’s military advance towards Tripoli, Efe news reported.

Advertisement

“The relief teams are working at the site of the attack. There are dozens of victims,” said a spokesman for the ‘Volcano of Rage’ operation launched by the so-called Government of National Accord to beat back Haftar’s onslaught on the capital region.

Malek Mersek, the spokesman for a state emergency medical services, said, “40 people had been killed and 80 wounded in the strike on the detention centre in the Tajoura suburb located next to a military camp.”

“Dozens of people had been killed and wounded in an airstrike blamed on the “war criminal Khalifa Haftar”, the Tripoli-based government said in a statement.

The plight of migrants has worsened since Haftar launched an offensive against Tripoli — the seat of an internationally recognised unity government — in early April.

Since then, fighting has killed more than 700 and wounded 4,000, while nearly 100,000 have been displaced, according to UN agencies.