Libyan Forces Free 12 Egyptians from Immigration Gangs

The Libyan Criminal Investigation Department in Al-Bardi region in northeastern Libya said on Friday that it freed 12 Egyptians who were detained by the illegal migration gangs in the country, according to Al Ain news.

In a recorded broadcast, the search department confirmed that 12 Egyptians were subjected to extortion, kidnapping, torture, beatings with sticks, and sharp tools by smugglers to demand a ransom.

The department added that the gangs killed an Egyptian named Montaser Faisal from Sohag governorate, and dumped the body in a valley in northeastern Libya, in addition to killing another person half an hour before they were freed.

At the beginning of this January, the Libyan interim government opened the Criminal Investigation Department and the police station in Al-Bardi, located within the jurisdiction of the Imsaad Security Directorate, to secure the nearby border area with Egypt and stop the road to smugglers and illegal immigration dealers.

The Libyan National Army (LNA) and police forces were able to eliminate terrorist groups and eliminate illegal immigration in eastern Libya. This came following the launch of "Operation Dignity" in 2014, but some cells and outlaws carry out, from time to time, crimes that the security services confront.

The United Nations estimates that on July 31, 2020, there were more than 2,780 people, 22 % of whom were children, detained in centers” designated for the detention of illegal immigrants in Libya.

Libya has been pided between two authorities in Tripoli and Tobruk for six years. Khalifa Haftar's LNA controls the east and is allied to the Tobruk-based House of Representatives. Meanwhile, the Government of National Accord (GNA) is based in Tripoli, the capital, and counts on the support of Turkey, Qatar, and thousands of Syrian mercenaries.

Ankara continues to escalate its involvement in the Libyan conflict by supporting GNA, despite Turkey participating and agreeing to the results of the Berlin Conference held last January where foreign states active in Libya agreed to uphold the UN arms embargo.