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UAE Jets Suspected Of Being Behind Attack On Nigerian Migrants In Libya

November 6, 2019

It is highly probable that the air strike was carried out using precision-guided missiles by a fighter jet operated by a UN member state acting in direct support of Haftar Armed Forces.

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Sources have told the BBC that fighter jets from the United Arab Emirates might have launched the precision missile, which killed nine Nigerians and 44 other migrants in Libya in June. 

A confidential report to be presented to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday did not name the country involved but said it is highly probable that a foreign jet launched the guided weapon on behalf of Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army.

The report said, “An unknown number of Mirage 2000-9 fighter jets were operating from two airbases inside Libya at the time of the strike.

“It is highly probable that the air strike was carried out using precision-guided missiles by a fighter jet operated by a UN member state acting in direct support of Haftar Armed Forces.”

The UN mission in Libya said it shared the coordinates of migrant centres with both warring factions to avoid them making any collateral errors.

The UN said in September that it would repatriate about 4,000 migrants from Libya to Rwanda but it has been so far impossible to find out how many of them are Nigerians. 

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Military