Air strike on south Libyan town kills at least 43 - official

Murzuq municipal council member Mohamed Omar says, "The air strike resulted in 43 killed and 51 wounded." The LNA confirmed the strike on Murzuq.

Debris covers the ground after an air strike at a detention centre in Tajoura, east of Tripoli in Libya, Wednesday, July 3, 2019.
AP

Debris covers the ground after an air strike at a detention centre in Tajoura, east of Tripoli in Libya, Wednesday, July 3, 2019.

A drone air strike by eastern Libyan forces on the southern Libyan town of Murzuq has killed at least 43 people, a local official said on Monday.

The attack is the second major air strike blamed on the eastern Libyan National Army (LNA) forces loyal to warlord Khalifa Haftar after at least 44 migrants were killed in June when a detention centre in a suburb of the capital Tripoli was hit.

The LNA confirmed a strike late on Sunday on Murzuq, but denied it had targeted any civilians. The LNA had also denied it had hit the detention centre but acknowledged increased air strikes on the capital.

The internationally recognised government based in Tripoli opposing Haftar said dozens were killed and wounded in Murzuq.

Reached by telephone, Murzuq municipal council member Mohamed Omar told Reuters, "The air strike resulted in 43 killed and 51 wounded. This is only an initial toll of casualties."

LNA says targeted 'Chadian opposition fighters'

The LNA seized Murzuq at the start of this year as part of an offensive to control the oil-producing south. But it later moved out to concentrate forces north where it has been trying to take the capital Tripoli in a four-month campaign.

The LNA said in a statement its strike had targeted "Chadian opposition fighters," a phrase that usually refers to Tebu tribesmen opposing them in the area.

Haftar's LNA, allied to a parallel government based in eastern Libya, has seen its advance on Tripoli held up by robust defences on the outskirts of the capital, and said it would start heavy air strikes after "traditional means" of war had been exhausted.

UN condemns shellings

On Sunday, the UN Libya mission (UNSMIL) condemned in a statement "the repeated indiscriminate shelling" of Tripoli's only functioning airport after several strikes in the past days.

The United Nations did not name the LNA but said the attacks had "continued unabated" since the start of the LNA offensive on Tripoli.

There was no immediate UN comment on the Murzuq strike.

Haftar's attempt to capture Tripoli has derailed UN attempts to broker an end to the chaos that has prevailed in Libya since the NATO-backed overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. 

Route 6