Seven unidentified bodies have been discovered in Tarhouna, a city in western Libya where several dozen mass graves have been unearthed since the summer of 2020, the Libyan authority in charge of the missing announced on Monday August 22.
A “
new mass grave
” was discovered on Sunday in a “
public dump
” from which seven bodies were exhumed, the organization said in a statement on Monday.
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Tarhouna is a small agricultural town where more than 250 remains have been found in mass graves since the summer of 2020. Their existence was first reported after the departure from the town in June 2020 of the forces of Marshal Khalifa Haftar, the strongman of eastern Libya.
These forces had been trying since April 2019 to conquer, in vain, the capital Tripoli, 80 km further to the northwest and where the former government recognized by the UN was based.
Abuses began in 2015 in Tarhouna, when the local Al-Kani militia, known as Kaniyat, took control of the city.
Led by six brothers, it reigned terror among its inhabitants, methodically eliminating opponents.
First affiliated with the former government of Tripoli, it pledged allegiance to Marshal Haftar and joined him in his failed attempt to conquer the capital.
Its leader Mohamed al-Kani was shot dead in July 2021 in Benghazi (east).
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A fact-finding mission of UN experts described the abuses in Tarhouna as "
war crimes
" and "
crimes against humanity
".
Libya descended into chaos after the uprising that brought down the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with rival powers, a myriad of armed militias and foreign mercenaries scattered across the country amid foreign interference.