Bodies of migrants recovered in Libya, authorities say

“There was a gang whose members deliberately deprived illegal migrants of their freedom, tortured them and subjected them to cruel, humiliating and inhumane treatment,” the statement said.

Images shared online – which the BBC has not independently verified – show police and volunteers digging in the sand before placing corpses in black bags.

The search in Kufra – more than 1,700 kilometres (1,056 miles) from Libya’s capital Tripoli – is continuing.

The attorney general says the bodies recovered have been taken for autopsy, with investigators suspecting links to smuggling networks. Authorities are documenting the testimonies of survivors.

Last year, a mass grave containing the bodies of at least 65 migrants was found in the south-west of Libya. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) described it as “deeply shocking” at the time.

Since the overthrow of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has become a key transit route for migrants risking dangerous desert and Mediterranean Sea crossings to reach Europe.

Unicef has said, external that in 2024 the number of people who died or went missing in the Mediterranean, trying to reach Europe, surpassed 2,200.