The UN says, the air strike which killed more than 44 migrants at a detention centre on the outskirts of the Libyan capital Tripoli may amount to a war crime.

More than 130 people were also injured in the strike.

An airstrike hit a detention centre for migrants in Tripoli early this morning.

The UN-supported government blamed the self-styled Libyan National Army led by Khalifa Hifter for the airstrike. Most of the dead are believed to be sub-Saharan Africans.

The Libyan National Army launched an offensive against the government in April. Hifter’s forces control much of the country’s east and south.

Last week, the government reclaimed the strategic town of Gharyan, about 100 kilometres from the capital city of Tripoli.

Gharyan had been a key supply route for the militant forces. Thousands of migrants are held in government-run detention centres.