Libya’s internationally recognized government suspended ceasefire talks hosted by the United Nations in Geneva after an attack on Tripoli port on Tuesday, the presidential council of the government announced in a statement.
The government said in the statement that it will respond firmly to the attack in appropriate timing.
The targeting of the strategic facility on Tuesday appeared to be the first such attack since the forces of renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive in April last year to seize the city.
Ghassan Salame, head of the UN Libya mission, called the port attack a “big breach” of the fragile – and repeatedly violated – ceasefire that was brokered by Russia and Turkey on January 12 as part of efforts to de-escalate the battle for the capital.
Before the attack, in Geneva, five military representatives from the GNA and another five from Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) held indirect talks, more than a week after they ended their first round of negotiations without striking a deal that would help end the fighting in Tripoli.
At least three people were killed in the shelling of Tripoli’s port, the Libyan Health Ministry was quoted as saying.
Five other people were also injured in the attack, according to the health ministry without clarifying the extent of their injuries.
At another level, the Ministry of Transport said that the bombing of Tripoli port is a “terrorist act”.
It added that several containers loaded with goods were destroyed and burned as a result of the bombing.
Read more via Reuters/ Al Jazeera/ Libya Observer
