An airstrike by Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar’s forces has killed five doctors in a hospital in the southern outskirts of Libya’s capital Tripoli, an official from the UN-backed government said on Sunday, reported BBC.
A health ministry spokesman said the attack was carried out by a warplane belonging to Khalifa Hafta, who commands the Libyan National Army (LNA).
“The field hospital located on the airport road (south of Tripoli) was hit by an air raid,” said health ministry spokesman Lamine al-Hashemi. “Five doctors were killed and seven other people, including rescuers, wounded.”
He said that the strike occurred on Saturday and was carried out by “a Haftar warplane.”
“It was a direct hit against the hospital which was packed with medical teams,” Hashemi added.
The LNA has not confirmed or denied responsibility for the attack. It was the third attack that targeted a hospital in the capital’s south. Earlier this month, three doctors and a paramedic were wounded in a strike on the Swani hospital near the capital.
Libya has been facing conflicts since the fall of long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Haftar’s eastern Libyan National Army launched a war in April this year to take Tripoli from forces allied to the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the fighting between the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) and LNA has claimed 1,100 lives and wounded more than 5,750 since April. More than 100,000 civilians have fled their homes.
Last month, an airstrike on a detention center killed at least 50 migrants. The LNA, which was behind the attack, said it had attacked a pro-government camp near the center and pro-government forces had fired shells in response, hitting the migrant center by accident.
