Libya: Haftar forces kill 2 girls in attack on Tripoli

By Safiye Karabacak and Gulsen Topcu

TRIPOLI (AA) – Forces affiliated with Eastern Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar killed two girls in an artillery attack in southern Tripoli, an official with the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) said Tuesday.

Mustafa al-Majei, spokesman for the GNA-led Burkan Al-Ghadab (Volcano of Rage) Operation, told an Anadolu Agency reporter that a house collapsed after the attack.

Al-Majei said the bodies of two girls were recovered from the rubble.

Six people have been killed and six others wounded after the militants’ “fake ceasefire declaration” in the past 48 hours, said Muhammed Kununu, the military spokesman for the GNA.

On March 21, Ahmed al-Mismari, the spokesman for Haftar’s militias, announced his side welcomed a humanitarian ceasefire proposed by the UN and European countries due to the novel coronavirus.

The militias, however, have continued their attacks.

Since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: Haftar in eastern Libya, supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and the GNA in Tripoli, which enjoys UN and international recognition.

The GNA has been under attack by Haftar’s forces since last April, with more than 1,000 people killed in the violence.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas