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Death toll from airstrike in Libya’s Tripoli climbs to 30 Airstrike death toll in Libya’s besieged capital rises to 30
(about 4 hours later)
CAIRO — The death toll from an airstrike that slammed into a military academy in Libya’s capital climbed to at least 30 people, most of them students, health authorities said Sunday. CAIRO — The death toll from an airstrike that slammed into a military academy in Libya’s capital climbed to at least 30 people, most of them students, health authorities said Sunday, as fighting over control of Tripoli between rival armed groups escalated.
Tripoli has been the scene of fighting since April between the self-styled Libyan National Army led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter and an array of militias loosely allied with the weak but U.N.-supported government that holds the capital. Eastern Libyan forces led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter launched an offensive in April to take the capital from the weak but U.N.-supported government. Libya is governed by rival authorities in the east and in Tripoli in the west, with each relying on different militias.
The airstrike took place late Saturday in the capital’s Hadaba area, just south of the city center where fighting has been raging for months. The airstrike took place late Saturday in the Hadaba area, just south of the city center, the health ministry of the Tripoli-based government said. Fighting and shelling between the two sides has been raging for months in the area.
The ambulance service in Tripoli said the airstrike also wounded at least 33 others. It posted images of dead bodies and wounded people being treated at a hospital. The U.N.-supported Libyan government blamed the airstrike on Hifter’s self-styled Libyan National Army. A spokesman for the LNA did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
The U.N. Support Mission in Libyan condemned in “the strongest terms” the attack. Hifter has declared a “final” and decisive battle for the capital. That followed a military and maritime agreement Tripoli authorities signed with their ally Turkey calling for the deployment of Turkish troops to Libya.
The Tripoli-based government blamed the airstrike on the self-styled Libyan National Army. A spokesman for the LNA did not respond to phone calls seeking comment. Turkey’s parliament on Thursday authorized sending forces to Libya to support Tripoli authorities. Libya’s eastern-based parliament condemned the move along with other regional and world powers.
The fighting for Tripoli escalated in recent weeks after Hifter declared a “final” and decisive battle for the capital. That followed a military and maritime agreement Tripoli authorities signed with their ally Turkey calling for the deployment of Turkish troops to Libya. Ghassan Salame, the U.N. envoy to Libya, said Turkish troops on the ground would further diminish chances for ending the violence.
The fighting has threatened to plunge Libya into violence and chaos rivaling the 2011 conflict that ousted and later killed its ruler Moammar Gadhafi. Salame expects the warring Libyan groups to meet for peace talks in Germany in mid-January.
The country is now divided between the U.N.-supported administration in the west, and a rival government in the east aligned with the LNA. The ambulance service in Tripoli said the airstrike also wounded at least 33 people. It posted images of dead bodies and those wounded being treated at a hospital.
France, Russia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and other key Arab countries support Hifter and his allies in the east. The Tripoli-based government is backed by Qatar, Italy and Turkey. The U.N. Support Mission in Libyan condemned in “the strongest terms” the attack. It warned in a statement against “growing escalation” in the violence.
The city’s siege has killed hundreds of people, mostly combatants, and displaced thousands of families in Tripoli and the surrounding areas.
The conflict threatens to plunge Libya into levels of chaos rivaling the 2011 uprising that ousted and later killed its ruler Moammar Gadhafi.
France, Egypt, Russia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and other key Arab countries support Hifter and his allies in the east. The Tripoli-based government is backed by Qatar, Italy and Turkey.
Last month, U.N. experts in a report to the U.N. Security Council said that “Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates routinely and sometimes blatantly supplied weapons, with little effort to disguise the source” in violation of the U.N. arms embargo.
They identified multiple cases of non-compliance with the arms embargo. The majority of weapons transfers to Hifter’s LNA came from Jordan or the United Arab Emirates, while the majority of military supplies to the Tripoli government came from Turkey, the report said.
The U.N. panel said neither side in Libya has “the military capability” to win the stalemated conflict.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.