The United Nations warned of rapidly escalating violence and a worsening humanitarian crisis in Libya, which it said could amount to war crimes.
While the U.N. Mission in Libya did not identify a perpetrator, it detailed a “dramatic increase” of indiscriminate shelling on densely populated civilian areas in the capital, Tripoli, that killed five civilians and wounded 28 over the past few days. Eastern-based forces under the command of Khalifa Haftar have been laying siege to Tripoli since last April, trying to wrest the city from the U.N.-backed government.
In the latest assault, Grad rockets launched by Haftar’s forces struck two field hospitals, wounding five medical workers on Monday, according to the Tripoli-based health ministry. Last week, the U.N. said, artillery shells damaged the intensive care unit of Tripoli’s Royal Hospital, a blow to an already strained health care system struggling to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.N. also expressed concern about the fate of civilians in Tarhuna following the GNA’s military offensive. Without naming Western-based forces, it lamented arbitrary arrests, abuse of civilians and fighters and electricity and gas supply cut-offs, which it said amounted to “collective punishment” in the strategic city.
GNA forces claimed battlefield gains around Tarhuna, while Haftar’s forces said they thwarted the attack. Both sides reported killing and capturing rival militiamen.
The U.N. renewed its plea for a humanitarian truce so Libyan authorities can address the COVID-19 health emergency, urging a halt to the increasing “indiscriminate” and “flagrant” attacks.
