The family of a smuggler killed by migrants avenged his death by killing 30 migrants and wounding 11 others, in the city of Mezdah more than 150 km south of Tripoli, the interior ministry said on Thursday. National Union (GNA), based in Tripoli.
According to a press release from the ministry, the 30-year-old smuggler was killed by " illegal migrants " for unknown reasons. To take revenge, family members killed 26 migrants from Bangladesh and four African nationals. Eleven other migrants, whose nationalities have not been specified, were injured and admitted to Zentan hospital, 170 km southwest of Tripoli, according to the press release. The ministry has promised to prosecute the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
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The chaos that followed the fall of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 made Libya the preferred route for migrants from East Africa, the Sahel and Asia seeking to reach Europe. Several thousand of them are stranded in Libya, in deplorable conditions. Their situation has become even more critical since the outbreak in early April of a new armed conflict south of the capital Tripoli.