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Another mass grave discovered in Libya's Tarhuna

Libya's Tripoli-based government has issued arrest warrants for the Kaniyat militia that long controlled Tarhuna.

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A member of security forces affiliated with the Libyan Government of National Accord's Interior Ministry points at the reported site of a mass grave in the town of Tarhuna, about 65 kilometers southeast of the capital, Tripoli, on June 11, 2020. The United Nations mission to Libya on June 11 voiced "horror" over the reported discovery of at least eight mass graves in an area evacuated this month by strongman Khalifa Hifter's forces. "UNSMIL notes with horror reports on the discovery of at least eight mass graves in past days, the majority of them in Tarhuna," the UN mission said in a statement on Twitter. — MAHMUD TURKIA/AFP via Getty Images

Libya’s Tripoli-based government issued arrest warrants for leaders of the country’s Kaniyat militia aligned with Gen. Khalifa Hifter’s forces after yet another mass grave was unearthed outside of Tripoli.

The remains of 12 people were discovered in Tarhuna, a city that for years was under the control of the Kaniyat militia, Reuters reported. Tripoli’s forces retook the area in July with military support from Turkey, amid Hifter’s wider retreat from his Tripoli offensive.

At least 100 bodies have been recovered so far, including from a field hospital in Tarhuna. Last week, a dozen bodies were found buried in the Mashrou Rabt district of Tarhuna.

Some of the bodies discovered so far show signs of abuse, restraint or violent desecration, according to local reports. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has called the findings potential evidence of war crimes.

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