141 die in attack on Libyan air base, ending shaky peace

AN ATTACK on an air base in southern Libya has killed 141 people, mostly soldiers loyal to military strongman Khalifa Haftar, shattering a fragile peace in the war-torn country.

The attack at Brak Al-Shati air base was in an area that had become a flashpoint between military alliances based in eastern and western Libya.

It risks a major escalation in ongoing strife between eastern-based factions and rivals loosely aligned with current and former governments in the capital, Tripoli.

Ahmed al-Mismari, a spokesperson for the eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA) said: “The soldiers were returning from a military parade. They weren’t armed. Most of them were executed.”

They were attacked by a brigade from the western city of Misrata known as the Third Force, which previously controlled the base and is nominally aligned with the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli.

The unity government, the rival administration in eastern Libya and their respective backers are battling for influence in the country, which has been wracked by chaos since the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Human Rights Watch cited a medical official, an eyewitness, and photo and video footage to say that attacking forces had killed “scores of LNA fighters, some with bullets to the head, in apparent acts of summary execution”.

UN Libya envoy Martin Kobler called the attack unprovoked and vicious, saying it “must not push (Libya) into further, serious conflict”.

GNA Prime Minister Fayez Seraj said he was suspending Defence Minister Mahdi Al-Barghathi and Third Force commander Jamal Traiki.