Airstrike kills at least 44 in Libyan migrant centre; UN, EU call for probe

Guterres denounced the "horrendous" attack and demanded "an independent investigation", his spokesman said

An airstrike hit a detention centre for migrants near the Libyan capital of Tripoli, killing at least 44 people and wounding dozens of others in an attack that the UN human rights chief said could amount to a war crime.

The Tripoli-based government blamed the Wednesday attack on forces associated with General Khalifa Hifter, whose Libyan National Army has been waging an offensive against rival militias in the capital of the war-torn North African country since April.

It refocused attention and raised questions about the European Union's policy of cooperating with the militias that hold migrants in crowded and squalid detention centers