Libya drone attack ‘kills’ man responsible for murder of 26 Bangladeshis
Several Bangladeshis are reportedly still in the hands of traffickers, who have taken shelter in mountainous regions of Libya
The alleged mastermind of the murder of 26 Bangladeshis and four African migrants in Mizda town of Libya, Haftar’s militiaman Khaled Al-Mishai, was killed in a drone strike by Libyan air force in south of Gharyan on Tuesday.
Libya’s English language news outlet The Libya Observer revealed this through a tweet on Tuesday night.
Human traffickers on 28 May killed 26 Bangladeshis and four Sudanese in revenge for the death of a trafficker, Libya's internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) said on 28 May. Another 11 Bangladeshis were injured in the gun attack. The gun attack was carried out when the Bangladeshis and Sudanese migrants on 27 May beaten a human trafficker to death because of their torture.
All the 26 Bangladeshis were victims of human trafficking. They left home around five months ago for Italy. They were held hostage by the traffickers twice on their way to Europe via Bengazi, Libya around two weeks ago. The Bangladeshis along with the Sudanese killed a trafficker when they were held hostage for the second time.
Meanwhile, all 26 Bangladeshi nationals, who were killed in a gun attack in Libya on Thursday, have been buried at Mizda. M Ashraful Islam, counsellor (Labour wing) at Bangladesh embassy in Libya, confirmed it.
Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye reports said a fierce fight is going on between militia commander Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) and the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) over taking control of mountainous Gharyan city, around 80 kilometres from Tripoli, capital of Libya. The Libya air force has been carrying out drone attacks on LNA men since the last few days.
Several Bangladeshis are reportedly still in the hands of traffickers, who have taken shelter in mountainous regions of Libya.
Speaking to Prothom Alo on 28 May, Saidul Islam, a Bangladeshi who escaped the traffickers in Mizda, said some more Bangladeshis are still in their capture.
Bangladesh ambassador to Tripoli Sheikh Sekandar Ali told Prothom Alo that they received information like this more often than not. However, they do not know for sure how many Bangladeshis have still been kept hostage. It will take a few more days to be sure of this since the traffickers lead people through hard-to-reach areas. The embassy has been working to find out the number of Bangladeshis kept hostage, he added.