Libyan authorities exhume 9 bodies from new mass grave in Tarhuna

TRIPOLI, Libya

Libyan authorities discovered a new mass grave Wednesday in the city of Tarhuna, with the atrocity likely committed by militias of retreating warlord Khalifa Haftar.

The General Authority for Research and Identification of Missing Persons said in a statement that the mass grave was discovered in an agricultural area of Tarhuna, which is located 90 kilometers (56 miles) northeast of the capital Tripoli.

It said the remains of nine bodies were exhumed from the grave and there is no information about the identities of the victims so far.

With the latest discovery, two graves have been found over the past week.

Tarhuna was previously a stronghold for the al-Kani militia affiliated with Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar.

According to official Libyan sources, Haftar’s forces and affiliated militias committed war crimes and acts of genocide in the period between April 2019 and June 2020.

Since June last year, following the defeat of Haftar’s forces in the western areas of Libya, the Libyan government has discovered around 300 bodies in mass graves in Tarhuna and south of Tripoli.

Libya has been torn by civil war since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

On Feb. 5, Libya's rival political groups agreed during UN-mediated talks to form an interim unity government to lead the country to elections this December in which Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh was designated to form a new government.

*Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev from Ankara