Newly discovered mass graves in Libya continue to reveal the extent of humanitarian tragedies and war crimes committed in the North African country's civil war. Most recently, 11 more unidentified bodies were found in the Mediterranean coastal city of Sirte.
While 376 bodies have been found in 94 different graves in Libya so far, only 70 of them have been identified.
The General Authority for Research and Identification of Missing Persons announced the discovery of 11 bodies in a newly found mass grave in Sirte. With the mass grave discovered in the Sirte region, the number of graves found in Libya has reached 94.
It was learned from the regional sources that the bone samples belonging to the corpses were sent to the regional hospitals to be examined by forensic specialists.
The United Nations previously stated that the situation in Libya regarding the mass graves found in the country was very dire and made an urgent call for the criminals to be found.
Most of the 94 mass graves in the country are located in the city of Tarhuna, a strategic town some 65 kilometers (41 miles) southeast of the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
Tarhuna was under the control of the al-Kaniyat militia, which gained a reputation for its brutal tactics. Led by al-Kani, the militia had initially sworn allegiance to a former government in Tripoli. But it switched sides in the civil war and aligned with the east-based forces of military commander putschist Gen. Khalifa Haftar in 2019.
Identification of the bodies is largely impossible. Families with missing relatives in Libya want those responsible for the mass graves to be found and brought to justice.
Since 2020, Libyan authorities have discovered 83 mass graves in different areas in Tarhuna, from which nearly 260 bodies have been exhumed.
Tarhuna was a former stronghold for Haftar, whose forces were pushed back from Tripoli by government forces following Turkey's support. On the other hand, Haftar was supported by Russia, France, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The mass graves in Tarhuna were found after the militia's withdrawal following the collapse of Haftar's 14-month campaign to wrest control of Tripoli from an array of militias allied with the former U.N.-recognized government.
Last year, Libyan authorities said they have lists of 3,650 missing people in different Libyan cities, including 350 missing persons in Tarhuna.
According to Libyan official sources, Haftar's forces and affiliated militias committed war crimes and acts of genocide in the period between April 2019 and June 2020.
Ahmed Ferrara, head of operations at Libya's authority for the disappeared, said his department was "seriously lacking resources."
Libya expert Jalal Harchaoui said civilians in the North African country had experienced "lots of horrors" between 2014 and 2019.
"Most of the perpetrators are still free today, even sometimes taking part in political life as if they were innocent," he said.
