Indian nurse and child killed in Libya shelling

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 has said.
"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 mission in Libya UNSMIL tweeted yesterday.
It said that "Ali Al-Za'atari calls on all parties to conflict in Libya to refrain from shelling civilian areas and respect Int'l humanitarian law".
India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj confirmed the death of the nurse Sunu Sathyan and her infant son Pranav, and said they had died when a rocket hit their apartment.

Libyan hospitals have long depended on staff from India and the Philippines, with large communities of expatriates from those countries living 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 recognised parliament to flee east.
The United Nations has been pushing for the two sides to cede power to a unity government under a power-sharing deal announced in December, but both have rejected the new authority headed by prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj.

Libya has descended into chaos since the 2011 ouster of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, allowing jihadists including the Islamic State group to gain ground in the oil-rich country.