Rocket attack kills 9 in Libya

A rocket attack by a drone operated by Libya’s eastern forces at a military camp in the capital, Tripoli, has killed nine people, an official in the UN-backed rival government said Sunday.


The dead included four civilians, who were delivering supplies to the camp when the attack took place late Saturday, said Mustafa al-Majai, spokesperson for the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA).


The spokesman also said that 35others were injured in the attack that also resulted in material damage in an adjacent residential district.


So far, there has been no comment from the eastern forces commanded by Libya’s military strongman, Khalifa Haftar.



Earlier this month, Haftar ordered his self-styled Libyan National Army to seize Tripoli from the rival GNA.




Both sides have since claimed progress on the battlefield on the outskirts of Tripoli.


Haftar’s offensive has raised fears of a worsening conflict in oil-rich Libya, where long-time dictator Moamer Gaddafi was ousted and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed revolt.


The fighting near Tripoli has killed at least 278 people, the World Health Organization said earlier this week.


Libya has at least two competing administrations including the Tripoli-based GNA led by Fayez Serraj and backed by the UN, and the other in the eastern city of Tobruk, which is allied with Haftar.