Libya conflict claims 284 civilians, hundreds injured

TRIPOLI, AT least 284 civilians have been killed and 363 injured in 2019 as a result of the armed conflict in Libya.

Airstrikes are the leading cause of civilian casualties.

The death toll represents an increase of more than a quarter recorded during the same period last year when 182 deaths and 212 injuries were documented.

Again, airstrikes were the leading cause followed by ground fighting, improvised explosive devices, abductions and killings.

Ghassan Salame, the Special Representative of United Nations (UN) Secretary-General (SRSG) in Libya, condemned the repeated airstrikes targeting civilian installations mostly in western Libya.

Airstrikes have intensified in recent days around the capital Tripoli.

This is utterly unacceptable, the envoy said.

We have said it loud and clear that indiscriminate attacks against civilians not only constitute a grave violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law, but also further escalate the conflict and incite future acts of revenge, which threaten the social unity in Libya.

Libya has suffered instability since 2011 when international forces led by both United States (US) and France masterminded the overthrow of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi. He was eventually murdered.

The oil-rich North African country is under the administration of a UN-endorsed government, which is under siege from the Libya National Army of Field Marshal Khalifa Belqasim Haftar.

Source: CAJ News Agency

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