Scores killed, several migrants injured as bomb hits Libya detention centre

About forty migrants at a detention centre on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli, have lost their lives in an attack.

According to the government officials, some other 80 people were also injured at the centre.

The UN-backed government says the centre was hit by an air strike.

Anti-government forces led by warlord Gen Khalifa Haftar have accused government forces of bombarding it.

According to BBC News, most of the dead are believed to be Africans, attempting to reach Europe on clandestine sea crossings from Libya.

Thousands of migrants are stopped and held in government-run detention centres.

The country has been torn by violence and division since long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi was deposed and killed in 2011.

Some 120 migrants were inside a hangar at the Tajoura Detention Centre which took a direct hit on Tuesday evening, emergency services spokesman Osama Ali told news agency.

Tajoura is believed to house some 600 migrants.

The UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA), led by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, accused the self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) of carrying out an air strike on the centre.

The “heinous crime” was “premeditated” and “precise”, it said.