Turkey slams Hafter’s deadly attack on military academy in Tripoli

ANKARA

Turkey has slammed an attack by General Khalifa Haftar forces against a military academy in Tripoli, which claimed the lives of at least 30 academy students, and renewed its calls on the cessation of foreign military support to Haftar.

“We strongly condemn the aerial attack by the so-called Libyan National Army (LNA) against the Military Academy in the southern parts of Tripoli on January 4 that killed and wounded scores of military students,” read a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Jan. 5.

The ministry emphasized that the international community should take steps in a bid to cut foreign military support given to Haftar and to provide a ceasefire between two rival parties as a result of suspension of the LNA’s offensive.

It also underlined that Turkey will continue its engagement with the United Nations-backed Government National Accord (GNA) to this end.

During the Jan. 4 attack by the LNA, 30 people were killed and 33 injured in an airstrike by the LNA forces, Anadolu Agency reported.

Jets loyal to Haftar bombed a military school dormitory in southern Tripoli, according to the media office of the Burkan Al-Ghadab (Volcano of Rage) operation. The operation was in response to Haftar launching an offensive in April to capture Tripoli.

Fawzi Unayyis, the GNA’s spokesman for the Health Ministry, told Anadolu Agency the airstrike targeted the school’s dormitory and warned that the death toll could increase as there were scores of injured.

Haftar announced Dec. 12 that he had ordered militants to launch a “decisive battle” to capture Tripoli, which is controlled by the GNA. Libya’s High Council of State declared a period of mourning for the deadly airstrike.

Tripoli calls int’l community to stop Haftar

In a statement on Jan. 5, the Foreign Ministry of the GNA called on the international community to bring Haftar and his accomplices to justice for committing crimes against humanity.

“This brutal, coward act [in Tripoli] shows to the whole world that Haftar’s militias are not fighting terrorism as they claim, but are committing terrorism and violating international humanitarian law,” the ministry said.

According to the statement, Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Siala directed the Libyan Mission to the United Nations to ask for convening an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to condemn Haftar’s crimes in Tripoli.