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Airstrike Kills 10 in Libyan Capital, May Amount to War Crime – UN Envoy

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – An airstrike on a biscuit factory in the Libyan capital of Tripoli has killed at least 10 civilians and could amount to a war crime, United Nations Special Representative for Libya Ghassan Salame said during a UN Security Council on Monday.
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"A biscuit factory in the Wadi Rabia neighbourhood of Tripoli was hit by an airstrike, according to early information. The attack has caused what we currently believe to be 10 fatalities and over 35 injuries," Salame said. "Regardless of whether the attack deliberately targeted the factory or was an indiscriminate attack, it may constitute a war crime."

He added that two of those killed were Libyan citizens, while migrants accounted for the rest.

Salame refrained from putting blame on any of the warring parties pending the conclusion of investigation already underway.

Libya is now divided between two governments, with the eastern part controlled by the Libyan National Army (LNA), headed by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and the west governed by the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).

Addressing the UN Security Council, GNA Foreign Minister Mohamed Taha Siala claimed a biscuit factory had been attacked by drones launched by Haftar’s militias. He added that Libyan, Egyptian and African countries’ citizens were among the casualties and called it "a war crime by all means."

Taha Siala criticized "international silence" and urged the UN Security Council to adopt a unified strategy to put an end to war atrocities in Libya.

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