Egypt strongly condemns Derna airstrike

Daily News Egypt
2 Min Read

Egypt strongly condemned the airstrike on the eastern city of Derna, Libya on Monday, which resulted in the killing and injury of civilians.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry issued a statement offering condolences to the relatives of the victims and to the political leadership of Libya.

At least 15 civilians were killed in the attack, according to Reuters. No group claimed the attack.

The spokesperson of Al-Karama operation, Ahmed Al-Mismary, denied in a statement any relation between the Libyan National Army led by Khalifa Haftar and the attack, which Al-Mismary described as a terror attack.

The UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) of Libya also condemned the airstrike and called on the UN Security Council to investigate the attack, which “should be treated as a war crime,” according to the statement of the GNA.

Meanwhile, Libyan military officers held a meeting in Cairo on Monday to discuss unifying the Libyan army, according to Al-Mismary. He added that leaders from different Libyan regions attended the meeting, in which even administrative and financial issues related to the army were discussed.

Egypt supports the military commander Khalifa Haftar and has fears of terror groups in the east of Libya on its borders, in addition to smuggling arms to armed groups in Egypt.

Violence has erupted in Libya since 2011, when a popular uprising ended with the ousting and death of former President Muammar Gaddafi. Since the ousting of Gaddafi, the country has rival governments and parliaments in the west and east.

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