New shelling targets districts in Tripoli

09 Mai 2020

Tripoli, Libya, May 9 (Infosplusgabon) -  New rocket fire on Saturday targeted residential areas near Maitigua airport in the eastern suburbs of Tripoli, Libya, as well as the Gasr Bab Ben Ghashir area, killing and injuring people, a military source said.

This situation reflects the continuing military escalation in Libya, despite calls for a humanitarian truce, both inside and outside the country.

The "Volcano of Wrath" military operation, under the Government of National Accord, announced on Saturday that "residential areas near Maitigua airport and the Bab Ghachir district in the capital, Tripoli, were bombed with more than 80 missiles, killing citizens and injuring many others", without specifying the exact number.

The military operation accused the forces of the Libyan National Army, led by Marshal Khalifa Haftar, of firing the missiles.

For its part, the Brega Petroleum Products Marketing Corporation announced that its kerosene tanks in the warehouse of Maitigua International Airport were severely damaged during the shelling.

The source added that the fire that broke out there was contained by firefighters, adding that they were waiting for the crisis team of its security and safety service to be able to identify and assess the damage.

The company called for "moving away from its vital facilities that represent potential for the Libyan people".

The shelling comes after two rockets fell on al-Chatt Park in Zawiyet al-Dahmani, a district where the headquarters of Libyan radio television, the Foreign ministry, the Mehari Hotel, the Turkish embassy and the Italian ambassador's residence, overlooking the capital's coast road, are located.

According to the Interior Ministry of the Government of National Accord, two people, a police officer and a civilian, were killed as a result of indiscriminate shelling in Zawiyet al-Dahmani.

The official spokesperson for the forces of the Libyan National Army's General Command, Maj.-Gen. Ahmed al-Mesmari, denied on Friday that his forces had targeted certain diplomatic headquarters in Tripoli, saying the actions were incompatible with "international charters, laws and customs".

In a statement, al-Mesmari said his forces are "moving towards Tripoli to directly protect diplomatic headquarters such as foreign embassies and the headquarters of international agencies and missions in the capital, as well as the headquarters of foreign companies and public institutions".

The President of the Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, considered the bombing in the Zawiyet al-Dahmani region "a barbaric criminal act", stressing that the repeated attack on residential areas is "a cowardly act".

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) denounced the systematic targeting of civilian districts, saying that between 1 and 8 May, 15 civilians were killed and 50 others wounded by shelling.

UNSMIL stressed that these attacks constituted "war crimes and against humanity" and promised to pass them on to the Expert Group of the International Criminal Court.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/VVG/GABON2020

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