Eight children were injured when a shell hit a residential area in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, according to local health authorities on Saturday.
In a statement, Al-Jalal Hospital in Benghazi said the children, aged between seven and 16, sustained moderate and critical injuries in the attack that took place on Friday in the city’s Zamzam district.
The statement did not specify the group behind the attack.
Benghazi is controlled by militias affiliated with Putist General Khalifa Haftar.
On Thursday, local authorities in Benghazi found 11 bodies with signs of torture and gunfire.
Benghazi is troubled by insecurity among reports of abuses by civilians by Haftar’s militia.
Since April 2019, Haftar’s illegal forces have launched attacks on the capital Tripoli and other parts of northwestern Libya, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths.
The president of Libya’s newly elected transitional government, Mohammed Menfi, arrived in eastern Benghazi last month to promote national unity ahead of the December elections.
Following the decision on 5 February, Libya can now look to its new caretaker government to lead during its transition phase until the December elections and end a decade of chaos in the post-Moammar Gadhafi era.
During the meeting, Haftar expressed his support for the new transitional authorities and his support for a “peaceful and democratic change of power” in Libya, according to a statement from his office.
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