At least 28 people were killed and dozens injured on Saturday after an airstrike hit a military school in the Libyan capital Tripoli, according to the ministry spokesman.
Amin al-Hashemi, spokesman for the health ministry of the Government of National Accord (GNA) said, “An air raid on the military school of Tripoli killed 28 cadets and injured dozens more”.
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At the time of the strike the cadets were gathered on a parade ground before going to their dormitories, he further added.
The military school is in al-Hadba al-Khadra, a residential sector of the Libyan capital.
The GNA health ministry called for blood donors to go to hospitals and blood banks to help those injured.
Tripoli has been the scene of fighting since April between the self-styled Libyan National Army, led by Gen. Khalifa Hifter, and an array of militias loosely allied with the U.N.-supported but weak government, which holds Tripoli.
Libya descended into chaos after the 2011 civil war that ousted and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. It is now split into rival governments — the U.N.-supported government based in Tripoli, which controls some of the country’s west, and the east-based government aligned with Hifter that controls the east. Each is backed by militias and armed groups fighting over resources and territory.
The Turkey-Libya deal has also added tension to an ongoing dispute with Greece, Cyprus and Egypt over oil-and-gas drilling rights in the eastern Mediterranean. Greece plans to raise the issue of the deal at NATO’s summit in London