UAE Killed 8 Civilians in Libya drone attack, HRW

An illicit drone strike carried out by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the Al-Sunbulah biscuit factory in Wadi al-Rabie, Libya, left 8 civilians dead and 27 injured, as revealed in a Human Rights Watch report published earlier this week. Out of the 35 casualties, 7 were from Libya while 28 were foreign nationals, according to the findings.

The factory was targeted for attack despite there being no evidence of military targets in the area, as confirmed by a Human Rights Watch researcher who visited the site in December 2019. The watchdog has stated that, “the UAE appeared to take little or no action to minimise harm to civilians in its attack”, which took place on 18 November 2019. 

Human Rights Watch has called on the Emirati authorities to carry out a transparent investigation into the incident and compensate victims or their families. 

The UAE has been conducting air strikes in support of forces loyal to warlord Khalifa Haftar since the beginning of the armed conflict in Tripoli in April 2019. Another report by the United Nations Sanctions Committee found that the UAE, alongside Jordan and Turkey, has also regularly violated the UN arms embargo on Libya by continuing to send weapons to General Haftar’s forces. The UN estimates that the fighting has killed 356 civilians and 329 have been left wounded as of March 31. The conflict has also displaced over 150,000 people.