An Indian nurse and her infant son have been killed in the shelling of a residential area in a town west of the Libyan capital, the UN said on Saturday.
“Libya Humanitarian Coordinator condemns [the] indiscriminate shelling Friday in a residential area” in the town of Zawiya “that killed Indian Nurse & her child,” the UN Support Mission in Libya said on Twitter.
“[UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya] Ali Al-Za’atari calls on all parties to conflict in Libya to refrain from shelling civilian areas and respect Int’l humanitarian law,” it added.
Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj confirmed the death of the nurse, Sunu Sathyan, and her infant son Pranav, saying that they had died when a rocket hit their apartment.
FOREIGN STAFF
Libyan hospitals have long depended on staff from India and the Philippines, with large communities of expatriates from those countries living and working in the North African country.
New Delhi and Manila have frequently advised their nationals to leave Libya citing the deteriorating security situation in the country.
Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when an armed alliance overran the capital, setting up its own authority and causing the government backed by the internationally recognized parliament to flee east.
POWER STRUGGLE
The UN has been pushing for the two sides to cede power to a unity government under a power-sharing deal announced in December last year, but both have rejected the new authority headed by Libyan prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj.
Libya has descended into chaos since the 2011 ouster of late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, allowing Muslim militants including the Islamic State group to gain ground in the oil-rich country.
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