Libya uncovers two mass graves with bodies of migrants, refugees
Libya's security authorities have recovered nearly 50 bodies from two mass graves in the country's southeastern desert, officials said on Sunday, in the latest tragedy involving people seeking to reach Europe through the North African country.
The bodies of at least 28 migrants have been found in a mass grave in the southeastern city of Kufra, the office of the attorney general posted on Facebook on Sunday.
The discovery was made just days after another mass grave with 19 bodies was made on a farm, also in Kufra.
Officials found the latest grave after raiding a human trafficking centre, according to Mohamed al-Fadeil, head of the security chamber in Kufra.
Authorities said they freed 76 migrants from "forced detention" at the trafficking centre, and arrested three people – a Libyan and two foreigners – on suspicion of detaining and torturing migrants.
"There was a gang whose members deliberately deprived illegal migrants of their freedom, tortured them and subjected them to cruel, humiliating and inhumane treatment," the statement said.
Prosecutors ordered the suspects to remain in detention pending investigation. The recovered bodies have been taken for autopsy.
The search in Kufra – some 1,700 kilometres from the capital Tripoli – is continuing.
Sixty-one migrants drown in shipwreck off Libya
(with newswires)
Read more on RFI EnglishRead also:Deadly New Year for migrants as Tunisian shipwreck claims 27 livesEU in talks with Tunisia, Libya to stem flow of illegal migrantsTunisia, Libya to share responsibility for migrants stranded on border
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L.A. Burns
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