260 migrants relocated from shelled Libyan detention centre

The UN refugee agency on Wednesday said 260 refugees and migrants have left the Libyan detention centre that was hit by an airstrike which left 53 dead and 130 others wounded.
The UNHCR said in a statement that the 260 people have been relocated to a “Gathering and Departure Facility’’ in the capital Tripoli, pending evacuation to an unnamed country.
The agency added that 55 other people who were earlier identified as vulnerable were still waiting to be relocated from the centre in the Tripoli suburb of Tajouraa.
A spokesman at the centre said around 150 migrants were allowed to leave after they rejected the UN refugee agency’s list of the 55 vulnerable people as “unfair”.
The bombing of the detention centre happened during a battle between the UN-backed government in Tripoli and the eastern-based Libyan National Army forces led by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
Tripoli’s Government of National Accord blamed the attack on Haftar’s forces, who in turn have accused the GNA.
Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 revolt that toppled long-time dictator Moamer Gaddafi.
In recent years, the country has been a major transit route for migrants, mostly Africans, trying to reach Europe by sea.