[JURIST] The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) [official website] on Thursday strongly condemned [press release] the continuous airstrikes on an airport in the western town of Zintan, claiming the attacks pose danger to civilians and are undermining efforts to find a solution to the Libyan crisis. Neither the rebels nor the Libyan government are claiming responsibility for the attacks. UNSMIL reminded all parties that the recent attacks on civilian facilities may constitute war crimes [UN News Centre report] under international humanitarian law. UNSMIL chief Bernardino Leon has been facilitating negotiation efforts between the government and rebels toward a ceasefire and a reduction in hostilities, and he urged all combative actors to desist from taking steps that increase tension. The warplane that carried out the strikes was unidentifiable, damaging a passenger terminal [Reuters report] but resulting in no casualties.

Libya remains politically unstable more than four years after the 2011 uprising [JURIST backgrounder] and subsequent civil war that deposed Muammar Gaddafi. Much of the escalating violence in Libya is attributable to the Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The group has caused increasing international alarm over its human rights abuses [JURIST report] since its insurgence into Syria and Iraq in 2013. In March UNSMIL released a peace proposal [JURIST report] in an effort to end the country’s political instability and “deteriorating military situation.” Also in March the head of the UNSMIL warned the UN Security Council that without intervention from the international community and UN, Libya is likely to become unstable [JURIST report] in the wake of repeated terrorist attacks. In February the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned [JURIST report] Libyan extremists’ beheading of 21 Coptic Christians. Also in February Human Rights Watch released a report [text, PDF] detailing the violent attacks on Libyan journalists [JURIST report] by various armed groups over the past two years. The UN reported in March that armed groups are increasingly attacking and threatening human rights defenders [JURIST report], who wish to shed light on widespread human rights abuses in Libya.