Authorities free 76 migrants, recover 28 migrant bodies in SE Libya

Tripoli [Libya], February 10: The Libyan Attorney General's office announced on Sunday that security services in the southeastern city of Kufra had freed 76 migrants detained by a criminal gang, and recovered 28 bodies of migrants buried near the detention site.
"The investigation procedures revealed evidence that there was a gang whose members deliberately detained illegal migrants, tortured them, and subjected them to cruel, humiliating, and inhumane treatment," the office said in a statement published on its official Facebook page.
Three members of the criminal gang were arrested, while a search for the remaining members is underway, the statement added.
On Jan. 29, the Attorney General's office announced the release of 263 migrants held captive for ransom by a criminal group in the eastern city of Jalu.
Because of the insecurity and chaos in the country since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, many migrants, mostly Africans, chose to cross the Mediterranean to Europe from Libya.
So far this year, a total of 2,398 migrants were intercepted at sea and returned to Libya, according to a statement by the International Organization for Migration on Tuesday.
Source: Xinhua News Agency