More than 200 Egyptian workers in Libya were held captive by militias affiliated to the Government of National Accord (GNA), according to several Libyan local media.
In videos circulated on social media, dozens of Egyptian workers appeared while being tortured by GNA militants, who forced them to stand up barefooted on one leg, while their hands were up.
The Egyptian captives were taken to Misrata, northwestern Libyan. They were then detained in Tarhouna, 65 kilometers to the southeast of Tripoli.
Moreover, the militants forced the Egyptian captives to curse Egyptian and Libyan leaders. Whoever did not respond to the militants’ orders were beaten.
Likewise, the militants made the captives praise and pray for the GNA’s “Volcano of Anger” operation.
In April 2019, the GNA forces announced launching the Operation “Volcano of Anger” to fight against the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
The LNA, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, is controlling eastern Libya and most of its oil wells. Since April 2019, it has launched an attack on the GNA, headed by Fayez al-Sarraj, to gain control of Tripoli but it has recently retreated.
Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011, Libya has been in chaos. Since 2015, the two ruling powers have been in conflict – the GNA based in Tripoli (west), and a parallel government supported by the LNA Commander Field Marshal Haftar in the east of the country.
Haftar does not recognize the legitimacy of the Sarraj government, which was formed under the Skhirat Agreement in Morocco, under the auspices of the United Nations in December 2015.