ANKARA 

East Libya-based forces on Thursday admitted to carrying out an airstrike on a migrant camp that left dozens dead.

At least 44 people were killed and 130 others injured on Tuesday in an airstrike on a migrant detention center in the Tajoura suburb of the country's capital, Tripoli.

The location "is actually a base of a military brigade and arms depot," spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said late Wednesday at a press conference in Benghazi.

Al-Mismari added that this was not the first of such attack on what he described a "legitimate target", claiming the camps had previously been a base for Government of National Accord (GNA) forces.

"We've repeatedly targeted it with airstrikes and artillery," the spokesman said, adding: "In this case, the main responsible ones are those who brought illegal immigrants here."

The Tripoli-based GNA blamed the airstrike on commander Khalifa Haftar's forces.

Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011 when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of long-serving leader Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.

Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- and a host of heavily armed militia groups.

* Writing by Mahmoud Barakat