On the evening of 21 August, the HQ of UNSMIL in Janzour was reportedly attacked with an SPG rocket while UN SRSG Hannah Tetteh was in the middle of her briefing to the UN Security Council in New York. Despite supposedly aiming for the entrance gate and the compound inside, both were missed.
The rocket impacted a house nearby without causing significant damage. In the immediate aftermath of the attack, the UN issued no statement and engaged in limited follow up with the massive online rumours about the incident.
After the attack, a patrol of the Tripoli Security Directorate Support Force detected a Toyota Camry with an improvised twin-launcher and two SPG rockets inside the car. Since then the frontlines among various Tripoli militias and their checkpoints are reported to be tense.
On 22 August, UNSMIL released a statement about the attack reiterating that its premises were not impacted. UNSMIL have not however rebuked speculation that the attack actually targeted Palm City.
The Ministry of Interior (MoI) claimed that the attack was successfully thwarted, ‘thanks to the alertness and swift action of police and security forces’. The Government of National Unity (GNU) strongly condemned the failed attack, calling it a “dangerous act” intended to destabilize the country. It praised the MoI’s security forces for their quick response, successfully foiling the plot. The GNU affirmed it ‘will pursue and bring the perpetrators to justice’.