2019 Tajoura migrant center airstrike

On 3 July 2019, an airstrike by General Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army hit the Tajoura Detention Center outside Tripoli, Libya, while hundreds of people were inside the facility. The detention center was being used as a holding facility for migrants and refugees trying to reach Europe when a storage hangar that it used as a residential facility was destroyed in an aerial bombing. The United Nations Human Rights Council stated that "It was known that there were 600 people living inside" the facility. At least 53 people were killed and 130 were wounded. Widespread international outrage was generated against the airstrike and the Libyan National Army for perceived recklessness and targeting of unarmed civilians. The airstrike also raised scrutiny of the European Union's policy of cooperating with militias to detain migrants, and funding and training the Libyan Coast Guard which apprehended most of the migrants and refugees.

Background
The Tajoura Detention Center is located 10 mi east of the Libyan capital of Tripoli. It is part of a network of 34 migrant detention centers across northwestern Libya which house at least 5,000 people. The centers are operated by the Government of National Accord (GNA) and are used to detain migrants attempting to reach Europe.

In April 2019, the Libyan National Army, under the command of General Khalifa Haftar, began a major offensive to capture western Libya and the capital Tripoli. After an airstrike hit a target less than 100 m from the detention center in May, the UN Refugee Agency called for the evacuation of refugees and migrants in detention centers in conflict areas of Tripoli.

Airstrike
On 3 July 2019, an airstrike directly struck Tajoura Detention Center's residential hangar as migrant families were sleeping. A Doctors Without Borders medical coordinator counted 126 migrants living inside of the center's hangar unit shortly before it was hit by the strike. Aerial photos from the scene show that the explosion caved in the roof and blew out the walls of the section of the hangar where it struck. Reports were made to the UN that guards shot at refugees and migrants trying to flee from the air strike. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said there were two air strikes, one hitting an unoccupied garage and one hitting a hangar containing around 120 refugees and migrants. According to the OCHA, some refugees and migrants were fired upon by guards as they tried to escape. Tripoli-based interior ministry denied firing at fleeing refugees and migrants categorically. A media advisor to Tripoli-based Ministry of Health said in the aftermath that "there was blood and body parts all over the place" and Tripoli-based government described it as a "massacre". Hospitals worked at above-average capacities as they attempted to treat a flood of injured patients from the attack. According to the United Nations, at least 53 people were killed in the airstrike and 130 were injured.

General Khalifa Haftar's forces, who are backed by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia, have said they were targeting a nearby military site.

Libya
Government of National Accord (GNA) blamed the attack on air forces associated with General Haftar of the Libyan National Army (LNA). The general had been waging an offensive against the UN-backed GNA in Tripoli since April, and the airstrike had occurred two days after the general threatened bombings in the area after announcing "traditional means" of war were insufficient. Although the LNA had announced plans for airstrikes in response to losing control of Gharyan, a spokesman for Haftar told The Independent that the allegations that the LNA was behind the bombing were "incorrect" because "the LNA has no air operations."

GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha announced on 4 July that the government was considering closing detention centers and releasing all migrants as the government cannot ensure their protection. The next day, Bashagha accused the United Arab Emirates of bombing the migrant center with a US-made F-16 jet. When asked if the GNA had any proof that an Emirati jet conducted the attack, the Minister said: "The sound of the jet was identified by technicians and pilots who heard it. The destructive power [of the bombs] is very big and is similar to the destructive power [of the bombs dropped] in 2014."

International
Other countries and international human rights groups called for an investigation, condemning the airstrike and lamenting the loss of life.
 * 🇺🇳 United Nations – A spokesman for the UN's refugee agency stated that the detention center's close proximity to a weapons warehouse made it a target by association. Michelle Bachelet, the UN's Human Rights Chief, said the airstrike might constitute a "war crime." In an official statement, Secretary-General António Guterres demanded a probe into "how this happened and who was responsible and to bring those individuals to account." The UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration made a joint statement: "Our two organizations strongly condemn this and any attack on civilian life. We also call for an immediate end to detention of migrants and refugees." The UN Security Council considered a resolution drafted by the United Kingdom which would have condemned the attack and called for a ceasefire. The resolution did not pass because the United States did not endorse the resolution. The UN also called for an inquiry into the incident.


 * 🇺🇸 United States – The U.S. State Department stated "This tragic and needless loss of life, which impacted one of the most vulnerable populations, underscores the urgent need for all Libyan parties to de-escalate fighting in Tripoli and return to the political process, which is the only viable path to lasting peace and stability in Libya."
 * 🇹🇷 Turkey – Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the attack a "crime against humanity" and blamed General Haftar's forces for the airstrike.
 * 🇺🇦 Ukraine – The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement emphasizing the need for a "comprehensive and credible investigation of this crime" and called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in order to prevent new casualties."
 * 🇲🇹 Malta – Malta's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion, Carmelo Abela condemned the airstrike in an official statement, and emphasized that migrants and refugees in dangerous situations should be "swiftly transferred to safe places under the supervision and protections of the United Nations."
 * 🇶🇦 Qatar – The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement calling for an "urgent international investigation" into the airstrike and expressing "its strong condemnation of the brutal strike." The statement further said that the airstrike "may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity."
 * 🇩🇿 Algeria – Algeria condemns the attack with "the greatest force" and urges to "identify the perpetrators of this bloody aggression that has claimed many victims among innocent migrants," read the statement. Algeria insists on "immediate return to the process of inclusive dialogue between all Libyan parties."

The Middle East and North African director for Amnesty International also demanded that the International Criminal Court investigate the bombing as a war crime.