The victims of the air raid that bombed a detention centre on the outskirts of Tripoli are African refugees and migrants. The toll stands, at present, at 40 dead and 80 injured.
Update at 5pm – the death toll has risen to 44, with over 130 injured
In the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, an air strike in Libya killed at least 40 people and injured 80 at a migrant detention centre on the outskirts of the capital Tripoli. This was confirmed by the Al Serraj government and the BBC. The centre, which was located next to a military camp in the eastern suburb of Tajoura, was housing more than 600 people at the time of the attack. The part of the centre that was bombed contained around 150 male refugees and migrants from African countries including Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia.
Among the first responders was Dr Khalid Bin Attia, an official at the Libyan health ministry, who spoke of a "massacre": "The camp has been completely destroyed. There are people scattered everywhere. The survivors are crying, traumatised," Attia told BBC World. "When the ambulance arrived, what we witnessed was horrific: there was blood and human remains everywhere." The United Nations refugee agency said it was "deeply concerned" by the news.
The majority of the dead are African migrants, held in detention while awaiting the chance to reach Europe clandestinely by crossing the Mediterranean Sea. According to other press sources, including AFP, the death toll could rise in the coming hours as the situation remains unclear. According to the agency, the number of victims could reach 120.
The Government of National Accord (Gna), backed by the UN and led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, accused the self-styled Libyan National Army (Lna), commanded by General Khalifa Haftar, of having carried out this "heinous attack" with "precision" and "premeditation".
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On Monday, Haftar had announced the start of a series of heavy air strikes on several targets in Tripoli, after exhausting "conventional means". But in response to Al Serraj's accusations, the Lna replied that its warplanes were indeed bombing the pro-government camp near the centre, but that it was Al Serraj's forces who, in returning fire, had accidentally struck the migrants' centre.
