Libya's Toubou tribes on Tuesday filed a lawsuit with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar over a massacre perpetrated by his militias in the city of Murzuq last year.

In a statement, tribal leader Issa Abdel-Majid Mansour said the lawsuit seeks to "punish the criminals and terrorists who committed the massacre by bombing a residential neighborhood in the city of Murzuq."

"The painful massacre that was committed intentionally against the Toubou tribes in Murzuq by Haftar's militias were carried out by warplanes, belonging to the United Arab Emirates (UAE)," Mansour said.

On Aug. 4, 2019, at least 40 people were killed and dozens injured in an airstrike by Haftar's militias on a residential neighborhood in Murzuq.

The Toubou tribes have declared their support for Libya's U.N.-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj. They also rejected any coup against the Libyan revolution.

Libya has been torn by civil war since the ouster of late dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. The Libyan government was founded in 2015 under a U.N.-led agreement, but efforts for a long-term political settlement failed due to a military offensive by Haftar's forces.

The U.N. recognizes the Sarraj government, which is backed by Turkey, Qatar and Italy, as the country's legitimate authority.

It has battled Haftar militias, who are backed by Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, the UAE and France, since April 2019 in a conflict that has taken more than 1,000 lives.