Libya’s security forces have discovered at least 28 migrant bodies in a mass grave located in the southeastern desert, as reported by the country’s attorney general on Facebook this past Sunday.
The remains were located north of Kufra city, where authorities also freed 76 migrants who had been held in forced detention.
Kufra is situated approximately 1,712 kilometers (1,064 miles) from Tripoli, the capital.
Earlier, on Thursday, the Alwahat security directorate retrieved 19 bodies from a mass grave in the Jikharra area, while the Libyan Red Crescent recovered 10 bodies of migrants near Dila port in Zawiya city after their vessel capsized.
Read more: ‘No thanks’, white South Africans turn down Trump’s immigration offer
Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in a NATO-supported uprising in 2011, Libya has emerged as a key transit point for migrants escaping conflict and poverty, risking perilous journeys across the desert and the Mediterranean to reach Europe.
The attorney general stated on their verified Facebook page that a gang had been involved in the systematic deprivation of freedom, torture, and inhumane treatment of illegal migrants.
Authorities have initiated forensic examinations to determine the causes of death and are in the process of documenting survivor testimonies. Three suspects have been apprehended, including one Libyan national and two foreigners.
