Bloody attack on arms base in Libya

The archive shows a tank of the Libyan national army (LNA)

More than 140 people are said to have been killed in an attack by guerrilla fighters on a base of rival units. This is reported by the army. The UN is also horrified.

Most of the 141 victims were soldiers who belonged to the renegade General Khalifa Haftar, a spokesman for the Haftar-loyal troops said. Other victims are civilians who worked at the base in the south of the country or were close by. The attackers should have been particularly cruel. 

The soldiers came back from a military parade, they were unarmed," said the spokesman Ahmed al-Mesmari. Most of them had been executed.

Unified government takes its first implications

The Libyan unit government in Tripoli said that an investigation commission had been set up for the attack.Humanitarian consequences had already been drawn. Al-Mahdi al-Barghati had been suspended under other defense ministers. The decision remains in force until it is clear who is responsible for the violation of the armistice, said Prime Minister Fajes al-Sarradsch. A military commander was also temporarily removed from his post.

A militia, which fights on the part of the United Nations-supported Libyan unit government, had attacked on Thursday the air base Brak al-Shati. This is controlled by Haftar loyal units.

Haftar supported the counter-government in Benghazi with his fighters. At last, however, there had been a cautious approach of the general to the head of the unity government, Fajes al-Sarrad.

The UN is terrified

The UN Special Envoy for Libya, Martin Kobler, expressed his apprehension at the attack. He had also mentioned reports of possible mass accidents.

Since the fall of Libya's long-standing leader Muammar al-Gaddafi in the autumn of 2011, chaos prevails in the North African country. Despite the formation of the unitary government, large parts of the country are still being controlled by armed militia. The dispute between them and the government also prevents a successful fight against tractor organizations. Libya is considered a central country on the way from African migrants across the Mediterranean to Italy.