A delegation from the International Criminal Court (ICC) will visit Libya on Friday to inspect mass graves unearthed in the city of Tarhuna, the Libyan Army said Wednesday.
The delegation will also investigate those involved in war crimes in coordination with the Tripoli Prosecutor's Office, the media office of the government-led Burkan Al-Ghadab (Volcano of Rage) Operation said in a statement.
On July 7, the ICC decided to send a team to investigate war crimes committed by forces loyal to the putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar in the city, including the issue of mass graves and the planting of booby trap mines by Haftar's militias.
The Government of National Accord (GNA) was founded in 2015 under a United Nations-led agreement, but efforts for a long-term political settlement failed due to a military offensive by Haftar's forces. The U.N. recognizes the GNA led by Fayez Sarraj as the country's legitimate authority.
The Libyan government has repeatedly called on the U.N., the ICC and other human rights groups to demand an international investigation into the mass graves.
According to Libyan official sources, Haftar's forces and affiliated militia committed war crimes and acts of genocide in the period between April 2019 and June 2020.
On June 16, the Libyan government found 226 dead bodies in mass graves in Tarhuna and south of Tripoli.
Tripoli has battled Haftar's militias since April 2019 in a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives.
In recent months, as Haftar's militias were forced into retreat by the Sarraj-led legitimate government with Turkish support, many mass graves were discovered in areas the militias had controlled.
