Scores Of Bodies Uncovered In Mass Graves In Tarhuna

A top International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor has visited Tarhuna in western Libya, the site of alleged war crimes, reports the Libya Observer.

The city, about 40 miles (65 km) southeast of Tripoli, was the farthest eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar reached during a 14-month assault toward Tripoli.

Since withdrawing in May 2022, locals have recounted cases of disappearances, murders, human-rights abuses, mass graves and detention centers where torture reportedly took place at the hands of the Kaniyat militia that was allied with Haftar.

On Wednesday, Karim Asad Ahmad Khan, the chief prosecutor for the ICC, said that Libyan authorities had discovered about 230 mostly unidentified bodies from sites in Tarhuna, reported the Anadolu Agency (Ankara).

The ICC has gathered videos and audio documenting atrocities and mass graves in the city, he said.

Armed groups affiliated with Haftar were involved in crimes such as extrajudicial killings, kidnapping and taking hostages in cities across Libya, said Khan.