Libya
Libyan authorities have discovered 42 unknown bodies in a mass grave in the northern coastal city of Sirte.
The General Authority for Research and Identification of Missing Persons said in a statement on Sunday that it received a notification from the office of the local prosecutor on a mass grave found in Ibn Khaldoun school in the Jiza al-Bahriya area.
It said 42 unknown bodies were exhumed over two weeks of work in the school.
The bodies were taken to a hospital to take samples from the bones and were buried later, the statement said.
"Samples were taken from the bones for DNA analysis, in coordination with the forensics office," the same source said.
The radical jihadists had fiercely defended the city for months, using urban guerrilla tactics, before being defeated by pro-government forces in late 2016.
The bodies are believed to be belonging to people killed by the Daesh/ISIS terrorist group which seized the city for more than a year from August 2015 to December 2016.
Discoveries of mass graves are common in war-torn Libya, especially in Tarhuna city, a former stronghold for warlord Khalifa Haftar.
More recently, two mass graves of seven and eight bodies respectively were discovered in the courtyard of a hospital in Sirte in late August.
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.
01:40
Kenya cancels airport and energy deals with Adani group after the U.S. indicts the tycoon
Go to video
Fugitive Zambian MP Emmanuel Jay Banda arrested in Zimbabwe after three-month Manhunt
Go to video
Spain to offer residency and work permits to undocumented migrants
Go to video
Archbishop of Canterbury will end official duties in early January amid sex abuse scandal
Go to video
Congo opposition leaders call for protests against president's plan to change constitution
Go to video
At least 7 members of Nigerian security force missing after insurgents ambush convoy