UN condemns rocket attack on Tripoli hospital as Libya braces for COVID-19

The United Nations (UN) has condemned the shelling of a hospital here which it termed a "clear violation of international law", as Libya struggles to prepare for an outbreak of the new coronavirus.

Several projectiles landed in the grounds of Al Khadra General Hospital, injuring six in an area held by the internationally recognised government of Libya, as reported by Al Jazeera

Forces loyal to warlord Khalifa Haftar were blamed for the attack.

Meanwhile, the situation for Libya's Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) and other 700,000 refugees looks worrisome as the UN has warned of an outbreak of coronavirus in the country.

The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an immediate ceasefire in view of coronavirus.

However, he warned there were "enormous difficulties to implementation as conflicts have festered for years, distrust is deep, with many spoilers and many suspicions."

"And in many of the most critical situations, we have seen no let-up in fighting -- and some conflicts have even intensified," Guterres said.

He added, "My objective now is to stop the war; it is not to make a judgment, it is to stop the war. Obviously, it is clear, when I arrived in Libya, that there was an attack by Marshal Haftar's forces to Tripoli, and that was the beginning of the conflict that we have witnessed since then.

But my objective now is to make sure that the ceasefire, whose technical aspects were agreed by the representatives of both sides but not signed, that that ceasefire is implemented. We must stop this war."

Libya has so far reported 17 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, including one death. Libya has also enforced a nation-wide curfew to control the spread of the virus.