At least 40 killed in strike on Tripoli migrant detention centre

An air strike late on Tuesday hit a detention centre for mainly African migrants in a suburb of the Libyan capital of Tripoli, killing at least 40 people and wounding 80. It is the highest publicly reported toll of an air strike or shelling since eastern forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar three months ago launched an offensive with ground troops and aircraft to take the capital held by the internationally recognised government.

The conflict is part of chaos in the oil-and-gas-producing nation since the NATO-backed overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Libya is a main departure point for migrants from Africa fleeing poverty and war and trying to reach Italy by boat. Thousands of migrants are held in government-run detention centres in western Libya in what human rights groups and the United Nations say are often inhuman conditions.