TRIPOLI 

At least one child was killed by a military ammunition explosion in Libya, a medical official told Anadolu Agency on Thursday. 

Three others were injured in the blast in the Ain Zara region in southern Tripoli, according to Osama Ali, spokesman for the Libyan Health Ministry’s First Aid and Emergency Service.

He said one child was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

The army said in a statement on May 22 that warlord Khalifa Haftar’s militia was trapping mines in residential areas in the Salahaddin, al-Mashru and Ain Zara regions while withdrawing from south of Tripoli.

Since April 2019, forces loyal to Haftar have launched attacks on Tripoli and other parts of northwestern Libya, resulting in more than 1,000 deaths, including women and children.

But the government has achieved significant victories, pushing Haftar's militia out of Tripoli and the strategic city of Tarhuna.

According to UN data, at least 400,000 people have been displaced in Libya, but authorities argue that the real tally is much higher.

Haftar's militants and mercenaries linked to Wagner, a Russian military contractor, reportedly left mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in civilian areas of southern Tripoli during their withdrawal.

Operating in line with a request by authorities, Turkish bomb squads have cleared civilian areas of explosive materials.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz