At Least 40 Migrants Killed After Airstrike On Detention Center (video)

At least 40 people were killed and 80 others injured after an airstrike on a migrant center east of Libya’s capital Tripoli on Wednesday morning.

The attack in Tajoura, a coastal town east of Tripoli, left behind bodies buried in bloody rubble according to photos and videos shared online. Women and children were among the dead.

The Tripoli government condemned what it called a “massacre” and demanded an international investigation.

Anti-government forces led by wartime general Khalifa Haftar blame government forces for the attack.

Most of the dead are believed to be Africans trying to reach Europe by clandestine sea crossings from Libya.

Some 600 people were held at the facility, one of several centers where migrants trying to reach Europe are held after being picked up at sea.

The UN has repeatedly described war-torn Libya as a dangerous country for migrants and urged Libyan and European authorities not to settle refugees there. But Italy and other EU countries continue to fund the Libyan coast guard and encourage their efforts to prevent refugees from crossing the Mediterranean.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said it was “concerned by the news of the airstrike targeting the Tajoura detention center”, adding that “civilians should never be targeted”.

There is no indication that Mr. Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA) forces targeted the facilities. But LNA spokesman Colonel Ahmed Mismari, just hours before the facilities were hit, announced continued airstrikes targeting Tajoura and other towns.

In the past, the LNA, which has deployed fighter jets supplied by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, has accused the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) of using civilians as ‘human shields’ .

The attack comes days after Mr Haftar pledged increased aggression following the loss of the strategic town of Gharyan to GAN forces last week.

Despite the arms embargo decreed by the UN, both parties to the conflict receive military equipment from abroad.

Photo credit: iristimes

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