NGO calls for immediate evacuation of refugees in Libya

By Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA (AA) - A Paris-based NGO Wednesday called for urgent evacuation of refugees and migrants held in detention centers in Libya in the wake of a fresh attack killing many of them.

Prince Alfani, Libya medical coordinator of the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said late Tuesday's airstrike on the Tajoura detention center in Tripoli, Libya, reportedly killed dozens of migrants and refugees.

In a written statement, Alfani called the airstrike "a horrific tragedy that could have easily been avoided," adding that the MSF teams provided medical care at the place.

“What is needed now is not empty condemnation but the urgent and immediate evacuation of all refugees and migrants held in detentions centers out of Libya," Alfani stressed.

He said there were more than 600 vulnerable men, women, and children trapped in the Tajoura detention center at the time of the attack.

"Our teams visited the center earlier yesterday and saw 126 people in the cell that was hit. Those who survived are in absolute fear for their lives," he added.

Earlier, Libya’s UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) accused forces loyal to East Libya-based military commander Khalifa Haftar of killing migrants staying at a shelter in the capital Tripoli.

At least 80 migrants were also reportedly wounded in the attack in an eastern suburb of Tripoli.

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.