Libya's Tripoli government decries UN 'silence' on Haftar attacks

The Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) on Sunday held the UN Security Council responsible for refraining from taking action regarding attacks on the Libyan capital by a rival government in eastern Libya, reported Anadolu Agency.

In early April, Khalifa Haftar, commander of forces loyal to Libya’s eastern government, launched a campaign to capture Tripoli from the rival UN-recognised GNA.

The GNA “holds the UN mission and Security Council responsible for their silence and complacency towards the actions of the criminal Haftar”, the Tripoli-based government said in a statement on Sunday.

It went on to say that as Haftar failed to make progress on the ground; he resorted to seek support from “foreign air forces to strike civilians and the unarmed in the city”.

It called for “revealing the fact of the aircraft that support Haftar in his aggression on Tripoli”.

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Anadolu Agency could not receive an immediate comment from the UN or Haftar forces on the GNA’s statement.

Libya has remained beset by turmoil since long-serving leader Muammar Gaddafi was ousted and killed in a bloody NATO-backed uprising in 2011.

Since then, the oil-rich country has seen the emergence of two rival seats of power: one in eastern Libya, to which Haftar is affiliated, and another in Tripoli, which enjoys UN recognition.