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GNA guards shot migrants while fleeing Tajoura detention centre: UN

The United Nations accused the guards of the Government of National Accord (GNA) of shooting migrants while trying to flee the airstrike that targeted Tajoura’s detention centre late Wednesday.

A report issued by the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Thursday said the guards forced migrants to stay in the Tajoura detention centre even after two airstrikes had hit an unoccupied garage and a hangar housing about 120 refugees and migrants near the detention centre.

“There are reports that following the first impact, some refugees and migrants were fired upon by guards as they tried to escape,” the U.N. report added.

The Tripoli-based Interior Ministry denied this accusation in a statement, according to Reuters.

On Thursday, the GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha said his officials were discussing closing all detention centres and releasing the refugees and migrants for their own safety.

On early Wednesday, Tajoura’s detention center, which hosts around 600 migrants, lost at least 44 lives and more than 130 were severely injuried.

The GNA and the international community blamed the LNA for bombing the detention centre.

However, LNA spokesperson Ahmed al-Mismari said the LNA targets only sites of armed groups and terrorists, calling upon the Security Council to open an investigation into the airstrike.

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