Death toll from Haftar militias attack rises to 7

ANKARA

The death toll rose to seven after militias loyal to Libya’s renegade commander Khalifa Haftar launched a rocket attack Saturday on civilian settlements in Tripoli, according to a government official.

The dead included a boy, 5, from Bangladesh, and 17 others were injured, according Health Ministry spokesman Amin al-Hashimi.

Since the beginning of 2020, seven health centers in Libya have been struck 12 times, according to the UN.

Haftar, the leader of illegal armed forces in eastern Libya, has intensified attacks on civilians since the beginning of May as the Libyan army recently gained an advantage and inflicted severe losses on his militants.

Libya's government has been under attack by Haftar's forces since April 2019, with more than 1,000 killed in the violence. It launched Operation Peace Storm on March 26 to counter attacks on the capital.

Following the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya's government was founded in 2015 under a UN-led political agreement.