Libya discovers mass grave, secret prison amid IS fight

Libyan forces have discovered a mass grave and secret prison amid the ongoing battle against the Islamic State group in Sirte, sources have revealed to The New Arab.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

11 July, 2016

Government forces fighting the militants closed in on Sirte last week [Getty]

A mass grave and secret prison were found in Libya’s Sirte amid an ongoing operation fighting Islamic State (IS) militants, sources told The New Arab.

Seven bodies were found buried in the grave that was discovered in a farm west of the city, while three prisoners were saved when security forces came across a secret prison in another town after liberating it from the militants.

The prisoners – said to be held captive for several months – were found in dire humanitarian conditions, the anonymous source told The New Arab.

Meanwhile, the battle to cleanse Sirte of IS militants has continued to progress with government forces closing in on the group's stronghold.

Last week, fighters allied to the Government of National Accord encircled IS in the Ouagadougou conference centre –a huge building the group has made as its headquarters.

"Fighting is ongoing around the presidential palaces close to the port and at the Ouagadougou conference centre," the spokesman for the anti-IS operation, Mohammad al-Ghasry, told The New Arab.

"Ground troops are working in conjunction with snipers, while artillery and the air force are bombarding the conference centre and the neighbouring district. We have almost taken back the whole of Sirte," he added.

IS overran the city, around 450 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli, in June last year.

Nearly 200 anti-IS fighters have been killed and more than 600 wounded since the start of the offensive, according to medical sources.

Pro-government forces, commanded out of Misrata 190 kilometres to the northwest, are mostly made up of western militias established during the 2011 revolt that overthrew dictator Muammar Gaddafi.