UN mission in Libya confirms death of former Defense Minister Al-Barghathi

WORLD, Dec. 22 (YPA) – Former Defense Minister of Libya, Mahdi Al-Barghathi, has been announced dead along with his companions after their arrest in Benghazi. This was confirmed on Thursday by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city in the east of the country, witnessed clashes between Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s forces and military personnel under the command of Colonel Mahdi al-Barghathi, former defense minister and one of the most prominent anti-Haftars, in early October.

In a statement on Thursday, The UN UNSMIL expressed its concern following the death of the former Defense Minister of Fayez al Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GAN), Mahdi al Barghathi, in Benghazi.

The death of “Seven detainees, including Al Barghathi and one of his sons, has been confirmed with disturbing accusations of mistreatment and torture during custody,” the mission said.

The mission has urgently called upon competent Libyan authorities to conduct an independent and transparent investigation into their deaths.

E.M