UN says 93 bodies found in mass graves in Libya
UNITED NATIONS, United States — A total of 93 bodies have now been recovered from two mass graves found in Libya during raids on human trafficking networks, the United Nations said Wednesday.
One mass grave was found on February 7 on a farm in Jakharrah in northeastern Libya, and a day later another mass grave was discovered in Kufra in the southeast, with a total of 93 bodies found, the UN under secretary general for African affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, said during a Security Council meeting.
She did not give a breakdown of how many bodies were found at each site.
Ten days ago Libyan authorities reported the discovery of 28 bodies of sub-Saharan migrants in the mass grave in Kufra near a site where they were allegedly detained and tortured.
These authorities said the grave was found after a raid on that human trafficking site, where authorities freed 76 sub-Saharan migrants.
The raid targeted "a gang whose members deliberately deprived illegal immigrants of their freedom, tortured them and subjected them to cruel, humiliating and inhumane treatment," the Libyan attorney general's office said on February 9.
The United Nations' International Organization for Migration then reported the second mass grave in Jakharra.
"The alarming and tragic discovery of mass graves following raids on human trafficking sites highlights the severe danger faced by migrants in Libya," said DiCarlo.
Libya, a key transit country for migrants attempting to reach Europe, has struggled to recover from the chaos that followed the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that overthrew longtime leader Muamer Qadhafi.
It remains split between a United Nations-recognised government and a rival authority in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
Smugglers and human traffickers have taken advantage of the instability since.
Page 2
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Roya News
4 hours ago
- Roya News
UK to build attack subs as part of major defence review
Britain announced Monday that it would build 12 new attack submarines as it launched a major defence review to move the country to "war-fighting readiness" in the face of "Russian aggression" and the changing nature of conflict. Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned that "the threat we now face is more serious, more immediate and more unpredictable than at any time since the Cold War," as he launched the review in Glasgow. "We face war in Europe, new nuclear risks, daily cyberattacks, growing Russian aggression in our waters, menacing our skies," he added. The Strategic Defence Review, which assesses threats facing the UK and makes recommendations, said that Britain was entering "a new era of threat". As a result, Starmer said his government aimed to deliver three "fundamental changes". "First, we are moving to war-fighting readiness as the central purpose of our armed forces," he said. "Every part of society, every citizen of this country, has a role to play, because we have to recognise that things have changed in the world of today. The front line, if you like, is here." Secondly, the prime minister insisted that UK defence policy would "always be NATO first", and finally that the UK "will innovate and accelerate innovation at a wartime pace so we can meet the threats of today and of tomorrow." 'Blueprint for strength' Addressing parliament later Monday, Defence Secretary John Healey said the world had entered a "new era" and vowed to make the UK army "10 times more lethal" by combining future drone technology and artificial intelligence with the "heavy metal of tanks and artillery". "We face war in Europe, growing Russian aggression, new nuclear risks and daily cyberattacks at home," he said. "Our adversaries are working more in alliance with one another, while technology is changing the way war is fought -- we are in a new era of threat." The UK has been racing to rearm in the face of the threat from Russia and fears that US President Donald Trump will no longer help protect Europe. Starmer said the review would serve as "a blueprint for strength and security for decades to come", taking into account the increasing use of drones and artificial intelligence on the battlefield. His government pledged in February to lift defence spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027 in the "largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War". And despite budget constraints, it aims for spending to rise to three percent in the next parliamentary term, due in 2029. The Labour government has said it will cut UK overseas aid to help fund the spending. Based on the recommendations of the review, which was led by former NATO secretary general George Robertson, the government said Sunday that it would boost stockpiles and weapons production capacity, which could be scaled up if needed. This includes £1.5 billion ($2 billion) for building "at least six munitions and energetics factories", procuring 7,000 domestically built long-range weapons, and spending £6 billion on munitions over the current parliamentary term. The government also said late Sunday that it would build up to 12 new attack submarines as part of its AUKUS military alliance with Australia and the United States. Currently the UK is set to operate seven nuclear-powered Astute Class attack submarines, which will be replaced by the 12 AUKUS submarines from the late 2030s. The defence ministry also said it would invest £15 billion in its nuclear warhead programme and last week pledged £1 billion for the creation of a "cyber command" to help on the battlefield. China 'challenge' The last such defence review was commissioned in 2021 by the previous Conservative government, and was revised in 2023 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While launching the new review, Robertson said it would tackle threats from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, calling them a "deadly quartet". But in an op-ed article for The Sun newspaper, Starmer did not mention China, while warning that "The Kremlin is working hand in hand with its cronies in Iran and North Korea." The softer rhetoric on China is in line with the Labour government's efforts to thaw relations with Beijing, which reached new lows under former prime minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative government. The review describes Russia as an "immediate and pressing" threat, but calls China a "sophisticated and persistent challenge", according to The Guardian.
Roya News
7 hours ago
- Roya News
Ukraine, Russia agree another prisoner exchange, but no ceasefire
Ukraine and Russia agreed another large-scale prisoner exchange at talks in Istanbul on Monday, but failed to make a breakthrough on an immediate halt to the fighting. At the second round of direct talks between the warring sides, Ukraine said Moscow had rejected its call for an unconditional ceasefire, offering instead a partial truce of two to three days in some areas of the frontline. Urged on by US President Donald Trump, Moscow and Kyiv have opened direct negotiations for the first time since February 2022, but have yet to make progress beyond prisoner exchanges and the agreement to swap their demands for a longer-term settlement. Top negotiators from both sides confirmed they had reached a deal to swap all severely wounded soldiers as well as all captured fighters under the age of 25. "We agreed to exchange all-for-all seriously wounded and seriously sick prisoners of war. The second category is young soldiers who are from 18 to 25 years old -- all-for-all," Ukraine's lead negotiator and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov told reporters in Istanbul. Russia's lead negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said it would involve "at least 1,000" on each side – topping the 1,000-for-1,000 POW exchange agreed at talks last month. But there was less sign of progress towards a truce. "The Russian side continued to reject the motion of an unconditional ceasefire," Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya told reporters after the talks. Russia said it had offered a limited pause in fighting. "We have proposed a specific ceasefire for two to three days in certain areas of the front line," top negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said, adding this was needed to collect bodies of dead soldiers from the battlefield. No 'reward' for Putin The two sides also agreed to hand over the bodies of 6,000 killed soldiers, Ukraine said after the talks. But Russia's Medinsky said Moscow would hand 6,000 killed Ukrainian soldiers over unilaterally, adding that he did not know "if they have any bodies on their side", but that Russia would take them, if so. Moscow does not disclose how many of its soldiers have been killed, closely guarding any information on the huge losses sustained in the last three years. As talks concluded, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said any deal must not "reward" Russian leader Vladimir Putin. "The key to lasting peace is clear, the aggressor must not receive any reward for war. Putin must get nothing that would justify his aggression," Zelensky said at a press conference in Vilnius alongside several NATO leaders. Russia handed Ukraine a document outlining its demands for both a peace and a full ceasefire, officials from both countries said after the talks. Kyiv said it would study the proposals in the coming days. Ukraine's Umerov also called for a next meeting to take place before the end of June, saying the teams should discuss a possible summit between Putin and Zelensky. Opening the talks at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul – an Ottoman imperial house on the banks of the Bosphorus that is now a luxury five-star hotel – Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the "eyes of the entire world" were watching. Afterwards, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed hosting a meeting between Zelensky, Putin and Trump. Moscow has made sweeping demands such as calling for Ukraine to cede territory it still controls, a ban on Kyiv joining NATO, limiting Ukraine's military and ending Western military support. Zelensky on Monday again rejected those demands, with Kyiv and the West casting Russia's assault as nothing but an imperialist land grab. Tens of thousands have been killed since Russia invaded, with swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine destroyed and millions forced to flee their homes in Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. Ukraine wants concrete Western-backed security guarantees – like NATO protections or troops on the ground – that have been ruled out by Russia. After months of setbacks for Kyiv's military, Ukraine said it had carried out an audacious attack on Sunday, smuggling drones into Russia and then firing them at airbases, damaging around 40 strategic Russian bombers worth USD 7 billion in a major special operation.
Jordan News
14 hours ago
- Jordan News
OCHA: Israeli Occupation Squeezing Gaza Civilians into Just 18% of the Strip - Jordan News
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed that, with the expansion of Israeli military operations in Gaza, less than 18% of the Strip remains designated as areas where civilians are permitted to be present. The rest of the territory is either under direct Israeli control or designated as evacuation zones, subject to continuous bombardment. اضافة اعلان According to the UN News Centre on Monday, OCHA noted that displacement continues across the Gaza Strip, with around 200,000 people displaced in just the past two weeks alone. The United Nations described the catastrophic situation in Gaza as the worst since the beginning of the war, with ongoing airstrikes across the Strip, especially in the north, where the last partially functioning hospital was forced to evacuate. OCHA emphasized that the humanitarian operation in Gaza is among the most obstructed in the modern history of global humanitarian response. Since March, Israeli authorities have imposed a near-total blockade on humanitarian aid and goods, allowing only a trickle of supplies in the past two weeks — what the UN described as "a drop in the ocean" compared to the actual needs of the population. The UN and its partners have been unable to deliver most of these limited supplies to civilians due to Israeli restrictions and widespread insecurity. A significant portion of the aid that did enter was looted by desperate residents, many simply trying to feed their families. – (Petra)
