At least three civilians were killed on Wednesday in an airstrike on a town south of Libya’s capital Tripoli, the United Nations-backed Libyan government confirmed in a statement, reported The Libyan Express.
The statement added that eastern commander Khalifa Haftar’s forces carried out the airstrike on Al-Sawani, which lies about 25 kilometeres (15 miles) south of Tripoli and is under GNA control.
“Three were killed and three wounded in an air raid on al-Sawani,” Amin al-Hachemi, spokesman for the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA), told AFP news agency.
The airstrike comes a day before the Turkish Parliament is set to vote to deploy troops to Tripoli following the request of the UN-backed government.
Haftar’s Libya National Army (LNA) has been launching a military offensive since April in an attempt to take over Tripoli from the UN-backed government.
According to UN figures, violent clashes have killed over 280 civilians and 2,000 fighters and forced more than 140,000 people to flee their homes.
On Wednesday, Turkish Vice President Foad Oktay said Turkey may not deploy troops to Libya if Haftar and his troops will halt their offensive.
Meanwhile, Algeria also reiterated its support to the UN-backed Libyan government on Wednesday.
An Algerian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the agreement signed between Libya and Turkey is a sovereign issue between the two countries and is not of Algeria’s concern.
The Algerian official said what is happening in Libya is dangerous, stressing his government is keen on finding a peaceful solution to the crisis.
“The illegal parties in Libya are the ones rejecting the peaceful path and are mobilizing the outlaws, including militias and mercenaries, providing them with flows of funds to fight proxy battles,” the spokesman explained.
He said that the Algerian government supports the legitimate government in Libya, represented in the Government of National Accord (GNA).
