Mass grave found in Libya's Sirte

Libyan security services and a Red Crescent team have found a mass grave in the city of Sirte, some 450 km east of Tripoli, according to a local official.

"A Red Crescent team, in cooperation with security services, managed to locate a mass grave in the town of Al-Dher in western Sirte. They surrounded the site pending order from the Public Prosecutions to dig and exhume the bodies," Xinhua news agency quoted Sirte Municipal Council spokesman Mohammed Al-Imil as saying on Saturday.

"The mass grave contains an unspecified number of unknown bodies. DNA samples will identify them."

Mass graves of civilians or military personnel executed by the Islamic State (IS) are often found in Sirte.

The IS affiliates seized control of the city two years ago before the UN-backed government expelled and defeated them in December 2016.

--IANS

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