Libya: Haftar's airstrike on military school condemned

TRIPOLI, Libya

The International Union of Muslim Scholars and Algeria’s Foreign Ministry on Monday strongly condemned a weekend airstrike on a military school in the Libyan capital by forces loyal to renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar.

The perpetrators of the attack devastated the world by causing enmity, the union said in a statement.

It said all parties should cease the violence and sincerely sit at the negotiating table for the Libyan people.

The union’s secretary general, Ali Muhiuddin Al-Qurra Daghi, also condemned the airstrike, defining it as a terrorist attack.

Algeria’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the airstrike.

Wherever these kinds of attacks come from, it deepens the crisis by inciting hatred, the ministry said in a statement.

At least 30 people were killed and 33 injured Saturday when Haftar’s forces launched an airstrike on the dormitory of a military school in Tripoli, mainly targeting its students.

Military motion

Turkey's parliament has passed a motion allowing the deployment of troops in Libya for one year in order to respond to threats from illegitimate armed groups and other terrorist groups targeting both countries' national interests.

The resolution also aims to provide security in Libya in the face of any possible mass migration and to provide Libyans with humanitarian aid.

Turkish forces will be able to launch an operation and military intervention to protect Turkey's interests and prevent future irreparable situations.

Libya has remained beset by turmoil since 2011 when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of long-serving President Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.

Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- and a host of heavily armed militia groups.

*Writing by Fahri Aksut