UPDATE - Libya: Haftar forces shell school, 2 children killed

UPDATES WITH DEATH TOLL, ADDS BACKGROUND, CHANGE HEADLINE, LEDE

TRIPOLI (AA) - At least two children were killed and two others injured on Tuesday when forces loyal to renegade commander Khalifa Haftar targeted a school compound in the capital Tripoli, according to the UN-recognized government.

The wounded children have sustained threatening injuries, said a statement by forces loyal to Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA).

"The tragedy occurred due to the fall of indiscriminate shells fired by the war criminal Khalifa Haftar, one of which landed in the backyard of a school in the Al-Hadba Badri area," said an earlier GNA statement.

Tuesday's attack is another violation by Haftar's forces of the outcomes of the Berlin Ccnference which called for a permanent cease-fire in the war-torn country.

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 UAE, and the GNA in Tripoli, which enjoys the UN and international recognition.

Libya’s legitimate government had been under attack by Haftar since last April, claiming the lives of more than 1,000 people.

On Jan. 12, the conflict parties announced a cease-fire in response to a joint call by the Turkish and Russian leaders. But talks for a permanent cease-fire deal ended without an agreement after Haftar left Moscow on Jan. 14 without signing the deal.

On Jan. 19, Haftar accepted at the Berlin conference on Libya to designate members to a UN-proposed military commission with five members from each side to monitor implementation of the cease-fire.

The decision to set up the Libyan military committee with five representatives from each side was the key result of the Berlin conference.