Doctors without Borders (MSF) said one illegal immigrant was killed and two others were injured in gunshots fired inside a detention center in Tripoli.

Brigade 444 said its forces had neutralized criminals’ hideouts in Nessma area – about 200km from Tripoli – arresting 16 smugglers, whom it said were criminals wanted by the authorities but had never been apprehended.

Kufra Security Directorate announced on Sunday the liberation of 47 migrants following a raid on a farm in which a secret prison was discovered, being used to detain migrants.

Libyan soldiers on Wednesday freed 120 would-be migrants held captive and tortured by human traffickers in the northern town of Bani Walid, the army said.

Libyan authorities say they have raided a secret prison in a southeastern city used by human traffickers and freed at last 156 African migrants – including 15 women and five children.

Amid the economic backlash of the coronavirus pandemic, vulnerable communities in the North African region have increasingly fallen prey to criminal gangs, finding themselves trapped between unemployment and the risk of exploitation in countries located along trafficking routes. 

The Tripoli Interior Ministry reported 353 cases of premeditated murder, 242 kidnappings and 2,346 other crimes in 2020. It says the figures are for the whole of Libya.

Libya’s Eastern-based authorities in Tobruk have freed 32 Egyptians who were kidnapped by criminal gangs, Egyptian newspaper Al Youm Al Sabei reported citing a Libyan security source.

The Minister of Interior of the Government of National Accord (GNA), Fathi Bashagha, revealed a large-scale operation to be launched by the security and military authorities to eradicate militants and human traffickers acting contrary to the law in Libya.

Libya’s internationally recognized government says it has detained a former coast guard commander sanctioned by the United Nations for human trafficking and accused of sinking migrant boats.