18 March 2015 - The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) strongly condemns the latest military attack on Zintan airport. Coming against the backdrop of repeated United Nations and international community calls for all parties to take no action that would risk escalating tensions at a time when Libya’s leaders are engaged in a dialogue process, the Mission regards this attack as wholly unjustified and reckless.

The Mission expresses its deep disappointment that the warring parties continue to systematically engage in acts of aggression against civilian and other key infrastructure across Libya despite repeated calls on all sides to refrain from such attacks which directly endanger civilian lives and contribute to the further destruction of Libya’s infrastructure.

Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya Bernardino Leon warned that these attacks, whether on Zintan, Mitiga or other key facilities, represent a deliberate attempt to undermine efforts to find a political solution to the Libyan conflict through dialogue. He underscored the international community’s unwavering determination to take a firm stance against those seeking to escalate armed hostilities.

At a time when Libya’s political leaders are taking part in a serious dialogue process to bring an end to their country’s political crisis and armed conflict, the Mission questions the motives of those intent on military escalation, which can only serve to undermine efforts to reach a peaceful resolution of the Libyan conflict. The Mission urges Libya’s leaders to assume their legal and political responsibilities by ensuring that all forces operating under their command comply with the political commitment they have made within the framework of the dialogue process.

Throughout the dialogue process, Libya’s leaders from across the political and civil society spectrum repeatedly underscored and warned of the growing threat that terrorist and extremist groups are posing to their country’s long-term security and stability, as well as its national unity and territorial integrity.

In view of the determination of terrorist groups to expand their areas of influence, UNSMIL urges all the different sides to the conflict in Libya, whether political or military, to refrain from further military escalation and focus their efforts instead on combating this common enemy who will stop at nothing to realise its ultimate objective of establishing a reign of unparalleled terror and brutality as they have done in other countries.