New mass grave found in Libya’s Tarhouna

A new mass grave has been found in the Libyan city of Tarhouna, located to the south of Tripoli, the Libyan government has said.

Tarhouna was a stronghold of militia affiliated with renegade General Khalifa Haftar, the self-proclaimed military strongman who launched an armed insurgency against the internationally-recognised government in the country.

“The grave was discovered in Alrabet project area in the city,” Anadolu Agency quoted Abdulaziz Al-Jaafari, a spokesman for the Libyan General Authority for Research and Identification of Missing Persons, as saying.

The number of bodies found in the grave has not been announced yet.

At least 338 residents of Tarhuna were reported missing after the local Al-Kani militia, known as Kaniyat, took control of the town in 2015, the UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord-linked Public Authority for Search and Identification of Missing Persons said.

A new mass grave was discovered in the city in January, after another with 226 bodies had been found between June and July last year. Months later, in September, another mass grave was located containing the bodies of five people.

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