Mass Grave Discovered in Libya in Area Formerly Controlled by Islamic State

A mass grave containing 42 bodies has been discovered in Libya at a site that was formerly controlled by the Islamic State, the country’s Missing Persons Authority announced on Sunday. The bodies were exhumed from the grounds of a school in the coastal city of Sirte, which was controlled by the Islamic State in 2015 and 2016. The location was identified by captured Islamic State fighters during an investigation by the authority. Hundreds of captured Islamic State fighters are still sitting in Libyan prisons awaiting trial. The extremist Islamic State was beaten back from the city in December 2016 by forces fighting for the former internationally backed Government of National Accord. The authority is working to identify the bodies, using DNA samples. Some 11 other bodies were discovered near the site earlier this year. Sirte is the birthplace of former longtime dictator Muammar Gadhafi, who was deposed and killed in 2011, leaving an opening for the Islamic State to try to fill. The country remains split between the Government of National Accord and a government led by General Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army.