Forces affiliated with Libyan putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar killed two girls in an artillery attack in southern Tripoli, an official with the U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) said Tuesday.
Mustafa al-Majei, the spokesman for the GNA-led Burkan Al-Ghadab (Volcano of Rage) Operation, told an Anadolu Agency reporter that a house collapsed after the attack.
Al-Majei said the bodies of two girls were recovered from the rubble.
Six people have been killed and six others wounded after the militants' "fake cease-fire declaration" in the past 48 hours, said Muhammed Kununu, the military spokesman for the GNA.
On March 21, Ahmed al-Mismari, the spokesman for Haftar's militias, announced his side welcomed a humanitarian cease-fire proposed by the U.N. and European countries due to the novel coronavirus.
The militias, however, have continued their attacks.
Since the ouster of late ruler Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, two seats of power have emerged in Libya: Haftar in eastern Libya, supported mainly by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, and the GNA in Tripoli, which enjoys U.N. and international recognition.
The GNA has been under attack by Haftar's forces since last April, with more than 1,000 people killed in the violence.
Haftar continues assault amid pandemic
Haftar forces continue to violate Libya's cease-fire deal as the world is busy with the coronavirus outbreak, a Libyan political analyst warned Tuesday.
"Haftar's forces are unable to advance on the ground and his warplanes have become ineffective since Turkey helped the Government of National Accord (GNA) to set up anti-aircraft batteries," Salah al-Bakkush told Anadolu Agency (AA).
He said Haftar's forces turned to shell Tripoli's Mitiga airport and residential neighborhoods in the capital.
"As the world is busy with an unprecedented pandemic, the U.N. mission in Libya is now ineffective (after the resignation of U.N. envoy Ghassan Salame), and as Haftar, Egypt and the UAE believe that there is a military solution to the conflict, the situation is likely to escalate in the coming period," al-Bakkush said.
As the global death toll from the new coronavirus now tops 16,563, Libya has not recorded any infections from the disease.
The Libyan analyst said that "Haftar has never respected the cease-fire at any stage."
Meanwhile, the GNA said Tuesday that militias affiliated with Haftar targeted the Ain Zara prison facility in southern Tripoli.
The spokesman for the Burkan Al-Ghadab Operation, Mustafa al-Majee, told Anadolu Agency that three security officers were injured in the attack.
Despite the GNA approval of a humanitarian cease-fire to focus on efforts to combat the coronavirus, Haftar has regularly violated the terms by attacking different locations in Tripoli, he said.
The GNA's justice minister has appealed to the international community to pressure Haftar to stop his offensive in Tripoli.