UN should take stand against Haftar attacks: Libya

TRIPOLI

Libya on Tuesday urged the UN Security Council to take a stand against rocket attacks by warlord Khalifa Haftar’s forces that struck dangerously close to the Turkish and Italian foreign missions in Tripoli.

The attacks of Haftar’s militias violated the Vienna Convention, so the UN should take action in line with its historical responsibility to promote peace and stability, said a letter by Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Taha Siala to the council.

Last week, Khalifa’s forces carried out rocket attacks on Mitiga Airport and Tripoli Harbor while some of them struck near settlements of the Turkish and Italian foreign missions.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said the attacks constituted a war crime, adding that attacking Turkish missions could make Haftar’s forces a legitimate target for Turkey.

This May, Haftar’s forces have killed more than 20 civilians with hundreds of rocket attacks in various areas of the capital Tripoli.

Haftar, the leader of illegal armed forces in eastern Libya, intensified attacks on civilians as the Libyan army recently gained the 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.

*Writing by Ali Murat Alhas