SHAFAQNA- A car bomb explosion in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi killed three UN staff members and two other mission members on Saturday. the attack came even as Warring sides on friday said they accepted a UN proposal for a ceasefire during the holiday of Eid Al Adha .
The officials said the blast took place outside Arkan Mall in the Hawari neighborhood, where people were gathering for shopping a day before the Eid al-Adha holiday begins. The Benghazi municipal council said the attack targeted a convoy for the U.N. Support Mission in Libya, Time told.
The Benghazi municipal council said the attack targeted a convoy for the UN Support Mission in Libya. The site of the attack is close to offices of the mission in Libya. Two of the dead were from Libya and the blast wounded nine people, according to health officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed Mismari told reporters two of those killed were guards with the U.N. Libya mission (UNSMIL). He added that 10 people had been wounded, including children, telesurenglish told.
UN secretary general António Guterres condemned the attack, a spokesman said in a statement.
“The secretary general calls on all parties to respect the humanitarian truce during Eid al-Adha and return to the negotiating table to pursue the peaceful future the people of Libya deserve,” UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said, theguardian mentioned.
He also said the secretary general urged “all parties to respect the humanitarian truce during Eid Al Adha and return to the negotiating table to pursue the peaceful future the people of Libya deserve”.
The UN special envoy for Libya, Ghassan Salame, condemned what he called a “cowardly attack”.
“This attack will not discourage us, nor will it prevent us from carrying on with our duties to bring about peace, stability and prosperity to Libya and its people,” he said.
the attack came as the U.N. is brokering a truce in the capital Tripoli, where the eastern-based LNA, under Khalifa Haftar, has been trying to incite a revolt in the capital amid signs of popular agitation against the Tripoli-based National Accord Government (GNA), headed by Prime Minister Fayez Al-Serraj, backed by the U.N. This is part of the chaos in Libya that has taken place since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011 with the strong support of European and U.S. forces.
The battle for Tripoli has killed more than 1,100 people, mostly combatants, and has displaced more than 100,000 civilians. Thousands of African migrants captured by Libyan forces supported by the European Union are trapped in detention centres, thenational reported.