The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday expressed shock at the discovery of mass graves in Libya’s Tarhuna that was recently recaptured from Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libya National Army (LNA), and called for a transparent investigation, reported The Washington Post.
More than 150 bodies, including women and children, were exhumed from the graves.
Libya’s UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) has been facing attacks by Haftar’s forces since April last year. More than 1,000 have been killed and thousands injured in the violence so far.
Last week, the GNA announced it had gained control over Tarhuna after pushing back Haftar’s eastern forces. Tarhuna was previously occupied by Haftar’s LNA. It served as a main stronghold for the eastern forces in their 14-month campaign to capture the capital Tripoli.
Guterres called on Libya’s U.N.-supported government to secure the mass graves, identify the victims, establish the causes of death and return the bodies to next of kin.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said he offered U.N. support in the discovery.
“The secretary-general once again reminds all parties to the conflict in Libya of their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” Dujarric said.
Meanwhile, the UN-recognized Government of National Accord has assured to investigate the mass graves.
“We discovered and are documenting many heinous crimes committed by the militias that controlled the city of Tarhuna,” Minister of Interior Fathi Basghagha said in a statement on Thursday. “We found a container where all the detainees were burned. We also found several mass graves, according to our initial reports dozens were buried alive”
International Rights Group Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa, Philippe Nassif, said the group was working to verify the mass killings.
Notably, on Wednesday, the warring sides in Libya began engaging in a new round of ceasefire talks, after heavy fighting around the central city of Sirte.
