Libyan Government of National Accord Accuses Haftar Forces of School Shelling

23:59 GMT, 13 April 2019

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA), which controls the western parts of Libya, has accused the Libyan National Army (LNA) that is headed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar of shelling a school in southern Tripoli.

Sputnik

"We strongly condemn the shelling of a school in the Ain Zara area and consider it to be another war crime against civilians", the GNA Presidential Council said in a statement, released on Twitter.

According to local media reports, no one was injured in the airstrike, but the administration of the school had to relocate refugees, hosted at the school.

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Last week, Haftar ordered an offensive to retake Tripoli from the GNA-backed forces. The LNA has already recaptured a number of settlements on its way to the capital, including the Tripoli International Airport, located around 20 miles away from the capital.

The forces loyal to the GNA have announced a counteroffensive, dubbed Volcano of Rage, to repel LNA.

Libya has been suffering from unrest since 2011, when its long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed. Since then the country has been divided between two rival governments, with an elected parliament governing the country's east and the UN- and EU-backed GNA ruling the west from Tripoli.