On Thursday evening, it was announced that 11 unidentified persons had been found at the southern entrance to Benghazi, in eastern Libya, while the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar were deployed in the streets of the city.
The French Press Agency quoted a security source as saying that 11 unidentified bodies bearing traces of bullets were found in the city of Benghazi, explaining that the security forces received a notification on Thursday evening, "about 11 unidentified bodies at the southern entrance to the city of Benghazi, in the Al-Hawari area near the cement factory."
The forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar deployed in the city’s streets, days after he threatened to intervene to control security in the city, and the main roads and large intersections witnessed the deployment of Haftar’s military police forces, carrying out searches of passers-by cars in search of suspects.
Benghazi is witnessing raids and arrests, carried out by masked gunmen, who take detainees to unknown places.
The battles in Libya stopped months ago, after a ceasefire was reached between the conflicting parties last October, but the situation remains fragile in the east of the country, which is controlled by Haftar's forces, amid repeated operations of revenge and settling scores.
From time to time, the security authorities in eastern Libya announce that they will open investigations into "extrajudicial" killings as soon as they occur, but they fail to reach the perpetrators and bring them to justice, and these crimes are often attributed to "unidentified armed men."
International tribute
In a related context, the International Follow-up Committee on Libya praised the progress made so far by the Libyan people and the concerned authorities in implementing the roadmap for the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum and pushing the political process forward.
A statement by the United Nations mission welcomed the important vote of the House of Representatives to give confidence to the Government of National Unity, which took the constitutional oath before the House of Representatives in Tobruk, as well as the swearing-in by members of the Presidential Council before the Supreme Court in Tripoli.
The mission expressed its satisfaction with the peaceful transfer of power from the outgoing government to the new executive authority led by President Muhammad al-Manfi and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid al-Dabaiba.
She praised the commitment of the new Libyan leadership to hold the elections on December 24, and stressed the important role of the commission in making and completing the necessary preparations for the upcoming national presidential and parliamentary elections, and pledged to support all efforts aimed at holding these elections on the scheduled date, in a free, fair and credible manner.