World News | UN Ready to Help Libya's Probe of Mass Graves in Freed Town
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. The United Nations said on Friday that it's ready to assist Libya's UN-supported government with an investigation into at least eight mass graves discovered in territory recaptured from east-based forces commander by Khalifa Hifter.
United Nations, Jun 13 (AP) The United Nations said on Friday that it's ready to assist Libya's UN-supported government with an investigation into at least eight mass graves discovered in territory recaptured from east-based forces commander by Khalifa Hifter.
The UN noted with horror reports of the uncovered mass graves, mostly in the town of Tarhuna, which have raised fears about the unknown extent of human rights violations in territories controlled by Hifter's forces, where there is little in the way of a paper trail.
Philippe Nassif, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa, said the group was working to verify the mass killings.
“We want to be able to go in, or have the U.N. go in, and collect evidence of potential war crimes and other atrocities ... so eventually a process takes place where justice can be served," he said.
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Last week, militias allied with the U.N.-supported government in Tripoli recaptured the town, some 65 kilometers (41 miles) southeast of the Libyan capital, their latest in a string of battlefield successes that reversed most of Hifter's gains in the 14-month campaign to capture Tripoli.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric urged the Tripoli government on Friday “to promptly undertake the work aimed at securing the mass graves, identifying the victims, establishing a cause of death, and returning the bodies to next of kin." The Tripoli-based ministry of justice has formed a committee to probe the causes and circumstances of the deaths.
Fathi Bashagha, the interior minister in the UN-supported government, said earlier this week that authorities were documenting evidence of alleged war crimes in Tarhuna, noting that preliminary reports indicated dozens of victims found in the city's mass graves had been buried alive.
Bashagha also said that special investigative teams uncovered a shipping container in Tarhuna full of charred bodies, presumably of detainees, and blamed powerful militias loyal to Hifter that had controlled the town for “heinous crimes.”
US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker told reporters on Thursday that he was “troubled” by the reports that Tripoli forces had discovered bodies of civilians, in addition to landmines and other explosive devices in territory retaken from Hifter's forces.
In divided Libya's bitter conflict, Hifter's offensive has been backed by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, while the Tripoli-based militias is aided by Qatar, Italy, in addition to their main sponsor Turkey.
Schenker said he sees the escalating proxy war between Russia and Turkey in Libya as a challenge to regional stability, as well as a “tragedy for the Libyan people looking for peace and and to foreign intervention.” Libya is teetering on the brink of a new escalation as Tripoli militias wage a campaign to recapture the coastal town of Sirte, which would provide access to the country's vast oil fields under Hifter's control.
The intensified fighting has forced nearly 24,000 people to flee their homes in the last week, according to UN humanitarian officials.
Despite intensified diplomatic activity to bring the sides to the negotiating table, Turkey appears keen to shore up its presence in western Libya. On Friday, Turkey's navy and air force conducted exercises in the Mediterranean Sea near Libya, officials said, an apparent show of backing for Tripoli. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)