Traffickers kill 12 migrants in Libya: UN

GENEVA: More than 12 migrants were shot dead by human traffickers last week while trying to escape a camp in Libya, where some were subjected to "torture abuse", the United Nations said Friday.

The incident, previously reported by Doctors Without Borders and local sources, occurred on May 23 in the town of Bani Walid, 170 kilometres southeast of Tripoli. "Human traffickers in Libya reportedly killed more than a dozen people and wounded many others after a group of some 200 Eritreans, Ethiopians and Somalis, being held captive, attempted to escape," the UN refugee agency said in a statement, adding that those killed "were shot".

"The survivors spoke of torture abuse and exploitation at the hands of traffickers - some being held in captivity for up to three years," the statement added. Bani Walid is a transit point for migrants aiming to reach Europe by boat from the coast further north.