Libyan tribes sue Haftar at ICC over civilian massacre

TRIPOLI

Libya’s Toubou tribes on Tuesday filed a lawsuit at the International Criminal Court (ICC) against warlord Khalifa Haftar over last year’s massacre in the city of Murzuq.

In a statement, tribal leader Issa Abdel-Majid Mansour said the lawsuit seeks to “punish criminals and terrorists who committed the massacre of bombing a residential neighborhood in the city of Murzuq”.

"The painful massacre that was committed intentionally against the Toubou tribes in Murzuq by Haftar’s militias were carried out by warplanes belonging to the United Arab Emirates,” Mansour said.

On August 4, 2019, at least 40 people were killed and dozens injured in an airstrike by Haftar’s militias on a residential neighborhood in Murzuq.

The Toubou tribes have declared their support to the UN-recognized Government of National Accord and rejected any coup against the Libyan revolution.

Libya has been torn by civil war since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The Libyan government was founded in 2015 under a UN-led agreement, but efforts for a long-term political settlement failed due to a military offensive by Haftar’s forces.

The UN recognizes the government headed by al-Sarraj as the country's legitimate authority, as it has battled Haftar's militias -- with the support of Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, the UAE and France -- since April 2019 in a conflict that has taken more than 1,000 lives.

*Nour Abdullah contributed to this report from Ankara