More than 100 migrants, including five women, have been freed from captivity after being held for ransom by a gang in eastern Libya.
The migrants were being held in Ajdabiya, about 160 km from Libya’s second city Benghazi, and were subjected to torture and inhumane treatment to force their families to pay ransoms for their release.
Five suspected traffickers from Libya, Sudan, and Egypt have been arrested in connection with the incident.
The attorney general’s office and Ajdabiya security directorate have released pictures of the migrants, showing signs of physical abuse, which were retrieved from the suspects’ mobile phones.
Libya has become a major transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe, with many falling prey to traffickers.
