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UN slams death of children in fighting in Libya’s Benghazi

This photo shows a man walking past a house damaged in rocket shelling in the town of Zawiya, May 6, 2015. (© AFP)

The United Nations (UN) has condemned the death of at least eight children in the Libyan city of Benghazi apparently in clashes between rival factions in the country.

In a statement, the UN mission to the North African country condemned “the death of at least eight children and the injury of four more, as a result of the shelling of residential areas of Benghazi on two occasions this week.”

The UNSMIL statement slammed “in the strongest possible terms” the targeting of residential areas in other Libyan cities, including Gharyan and Zawiya, as well.

“UNSMIL reminds all parties that attacks against civilians are prohibited under international humanitarian law and can constitute war crimes,” the statement warned.

However, the UN mission did not specify exactly when or where the children were killed, nor did it specify who was behind the deadly attacks.

Libya plunged into chaos following the 2011 uprising against the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi, whose ouster gave rise to a patchwork of heavily-armed militia groups and deep political divisions.

This file photo shows members of the Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) militia. (© AFP)

 

Two rival camps are vying for control over oil-rich Libya. One group is governing the capital, Tripoli, while the other, the internationally recognized government, controls the eastern cities of Bayda and Tobruk. The Libyan internationally recognized parliament, the House of Representatives, is based in Tobruk.

Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) militiamen took over Tripoli in the summer of 2014. It set up its own government and reinstated the General National Congress (GNC), which had been dissolved earlier.

Several rounds of peace talks brokered by the UN in recent months have failed to deliver any practical results that could lead to the formation of a unity government.

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