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Africa North

Libya's Presidential Council says airstrikes of Haftar's forces are "war crimes"

2019-12-03

[Libya Observer] The Libyan Presidential Council has condemned the ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
<del>Arclight</del> airstrike

...KABOOM!...
on al-Swani in southern Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
on Sunday and the airstrikes prior to that on Um al-Aranib in southern Libya, which both caused civilian casualties.

In a statement on Monday, the Presidential Council said "those terrorist attacks are committed by war criminal Khalifa Haftar
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all...
's warplanes that are backed by foreign countries" and are part of the series of attacks on civilian residential neighborhoods and private as well as public properties in Tripoli, leading to civilian deaths and injuries.

The Presidential Council said Haftar forces' crimes violate all international laws and yet there are no deterrent actions by the international community against them.

"The lack of action against Haftar's forces by the international community has encouraged them to carry out such atrocities that amount to war crimes." It added, saying UNSMIL bears the blame for those continuing attacks as its verbal statements are of no use.

Haftar's warplanes struck a house in al-Sawani on Sunday, killing five and injuring 13, according to the Health Ministry.

Prior to this attack, Haftar's warplanes carried out airstrikes on a residential area in Um al-Aranib in southern Libya, killing 11 people from one family - nine children and two women - and two other people; foreign nationals.

Posted by:Fred

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