21 May, 2017
"They weren't armed. majority were executed", the spokesman said.
A militia spokesman said they had "liberated the base and destroyed all the forces inside".
Misrata State Council member Begassem Igzeit called the killings an "irresponsible and heinous crime against Libyans".
In the aftermath of the attack Martin Kobler, the top UN official in Libya and the Head of the UN Support Mission known as UNSMIL, strongly condemned the deadly incident as a "vicious attack [that] undermines political efforts".
At least 60 people were killed as rival Libyan forces clashed at a southern air base on Thursday. According to information from the military detachment in the city of Misurata launched an attack previously they controlled the airbase. He said the 12th Brigade arrived back at the base shortly after the attack began.
According to LNA spokesman Ahmad al-Mesmari, the victims included civilians who worked at the Brak al-Shati airbase or were in the nearby area.
The head of the GNA in Tripoli subsequently suspended his defense minister pending an investigation into the attack.
GNA Prime Minister Fayez Al-Sarraj announced that he was suspending both Defence Minister Mahdi Al-Barghathi and Third Force commander Jamal Traiki, "until it is determined who was responsible for violating the ceasefire". If confirmed it could mark a major escalation in Libya's stop-start conflict in which fighting breaks out frequently but casualty figures are often low.
Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 civil war that toppled and killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
Martin Kobler, special representative and head of the United Nations support mission in Libya, said in a statement on Friday that the dead included civilians, citing reports that "summary executions may have taken place".
Libya has been divided between the Tobruk-based parliament and the UN-backed government in Tripoli.
Libya has suffered unrest since Muammar Gaddafi's assassination as rival militias and authorities collided vying for the country's control. Those in turn have been lending support to some of the extremist factions within the country.
