Libyan Authorities Order Detention of Militia Leader over Killing of UN-sanctioned Human Trafficker

A hawker at Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli on Tuesday sells Libyan flags. (AFP)
A hawker at Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli on Tuesday sells Libyan flags. (AFP)
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Libyan Authorities Order Detention of Militia Leader over Killing of UN-sanctioned Human Trafficker

A hawker at Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli on Tuesday sells Libyan flags. (AFP)
A hawker at Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli on Tuesday sells Libyan flags. (AFP)

Libya’s chief prosecutor ordered the detention of a militia leader and one of his aides pending an investigation into the killing of one of the country’s most notorious human traffickers.

Mohamed Bahroun, commander of the First Support Battalion and an influential militia leader, as well as one of his associates, handed themselves over after allegations surfaced about their role in last week’s killing of Abdel-Rahman Milad in the capital, Tripoli, The AP reported.

The office of General Prosecutor al-Sediq al-Sour said in a statement late Saturday that prosecutors ordered both men to remain detained after they were interrogated and shown evidence of their involvement in Milad's slaying.

Milad, sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council and imprisoned in Libya on trafficking charges, was shot and killed on Sep. 1 while in his vehicle in the Sayyad area, in the western part of Tripoli.

The late human trafficker and Bahroun hailed from the western town of Zawiya where Milad commanded a notorious coast guard unit. Both rose to prominence during the chaos after a NATO-backed uprising — that turned into civil war — toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

UN experts monitoring sanctions claimed Milad and other coast guard members “are directly involved in the sinking of migrant boats" by opening fire to intercept the vessels.

The intercepted migrants are held in government-run detention centers rife with practices that amount to crimes against humanity, according to UN-commissioned investigators. The abuse often accompanies attempts to extort money from the families of the imprisoned migrants before releasing them or allowing them to leave Libya on traffickers’ boats to Europe.

Milad had denied any links to human smuggling and said traffickers wear uniforms similar to those of his men. He was jailed for about six months between October 2020 and April 2021 on human trafficking and fuel smuggling charges.



73 People Killed Waiting for Humanitarian Aid Across Gaza, Palestinian Health Ministry Says

Palestinians carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, amid a hunger crisis, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinians carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, amid a hunger crisis, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
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73 People Killed Waiting for Humanitarian Aid Across Gaza, Palestinian Health Ministry Says

Palestinians carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, amid a hunger crisis, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinians carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, amid a hunger crisis, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip July 20, 2025. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

The Palestinian Health Ministry said that 73 people were killed while waiting for aid at locations across Gaza on Sunday.

The largest toll was in northern Gaza, where at least 67 Palestinians were killed while attempting to access aid entering northern Gaza through the Zikim crossing with Israel, according to the Health Ministry and local hospitals, The AP news reported.

More than 150 people were wounded, some critically, hospitals said. It wasn't immediately clear whether they were killed by the Israeli army or armed gangs or both. But some witnesses said that the Israeli military shot at the crowd.

The Israeli military earlier published new evacuation warnings for areas of central Gaza on Sunday, in one of the few areas where the military has rarely operated with ground troops.

The evacuation cuts access between the city of Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the narrow enclave.

The announcement comes as Israel and Hamas have been holding ceasefire talks in Qatar, but international mediators say there have been no breakthroughs.