By Sami Zaptia.
London, 10 May 2020:
In its condemnation statement last night, the internationally recognized Libyan government in Tripoli said that it no longer cared about the ‘timid’ international community condemnations of the attacks on civilians in the capital.
The statement, issued by Faiez Serraj in his role as the Supreme Commander of the (Western-based) Libyan Army, came after about 150 missiles/shells were fired at a number of Tripoli districts leading to the loss of the lives of ‘‘dozens’’ of civilians, the statement said. This included considerable damage to Mitiga airport and at least one aircraft preparing to take-off.
The statement said the onslaught was a desperate reaction by the Khalifa Hafter’s Libyan National Army (LNA) to their recent losses on the battlefield. It vowed to take matters into its own hands in defending the capital using all means until it defeats the aggressor forces of Hafter.
Here is the full statement:
‘‘The forces of the war criminal on Saturday fired more than 100 missiles and missiles at residential neighbourhoods in the centre of the capital Tripoli, and targeted the Mitiga International Airport with dozens of missiles, to hit civilian planes that were preparing to fly to return citizens stranded abroad due to the Corona epidemic, and also severely damaged the infrastructure of the airport.
These days, the senseless acts of the terrorist war criminal, which has claimed the lives of dozens of civilians, are evidence of weakness and despair after successive defeats, his militias and his mercenaries, and are an indication of the near end of his bloody project to seize power.
We no longer care about the timid condemnations of the international community, which are still unable to name the aggressor by name, hold him accountable and stop those who support him.
We therefore reaffirm to our free Libyan people that we have promised God to take it into our own hands to defeat the aggression completely throughout the country.
These heinous violations and crimes will only push us to insist on beating with an iron hand by all means and means available, and we will have no obstacle to provide what the war effort needs to complete this task.
In this regard, we make a final appeal to young people who are deceived by the aggressors to turn themselves in as quickly as their colleagues have done and find the best treatment from us.’’
