Libyan pro-Govt Warplanes Launch Strikes near Tripoli
Libyan pro-government forces said they had targeted a weapons depot belonging to an Islamist-backed militia, as peace talks continued in Morocco and a UN special envoy met both sides late on Monday.
A militia spokesperson said however that the raid had hit a refugee camp, killing eight civilians. Military spokesperson Colonel Ahmed al-Mesmari said “the air strike targeted a weapons storage facility belonging to Libya Dawn” in Tarhuna, about 80km southeast of Tripoli.
Libya Dawn is a militia alliance that includes Islamists and has installed a rival government and legislature in opposition to the country’s internationally recognised government.
A spokesperson for the group denied any of its weapons were in the area. “Eight Libyan civilians died in the strike. Sadly this is their strategy, to kill civilians and claim to the international community that they are after weapons,” he said, referring to the Western-backed government.
Mesmari said that, after the air raid, members of Libya Dawn attacked the house of a military officer and “killed his wife, his daughter, his son, his brother and other people who were there” in retaliation. The Islamist group denied the claim.
