Libya: Haftar’s forces target irregular migrants

By Gulsen Topcu

TRIPOLI (AA) - Libya’s UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) on Wednesday accused forces loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar of killing irregular migrants staying at a shelter in the capital.

Fawzi Unayyis, the GNA’s spokesman for the Health Ministry, told Anadolu Agency that fighter jets linked to Haftar struck the shelter and at least 30 migrants were killed.

Unayyis warned the death toll could increase as there were scores of injured.

Al-Mabruk Abdulhafez, a senior-level migration officer, told a Libyan TV station that there were 120 irregular migrants residing in the facility hit by Haftar’s forces.

Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011 when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of long-serving President Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.

Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- and a host of heavily armed militia groups.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas

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