US Blacklists Libya’s Kaniyat Armed Group

FILE PHOTO: A sign marks the US Treasury Department in Washington, US, August 6, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A sign marks the US Treasury Department in Washington, US, August 6, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
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US Blacklists Libya’s Kaniyat Armed Group

FILE PHOTO: A sign marks the US Treasury Department in Washington, US, August 6, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A sign marks the US Treasury Department in Washington, US, August 6, 2018. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo

The US has imposed sanctions on Libya’s Kaniyat group, alleging it was responsible for murdering hundreds of civilians in Tarhouna.

The Treasury Department took this step against the armed group and its leader after Russia last week prevented a UN Security Council committee from imposing sanctions over human rights abuses by the group.

The United States and Germany earlier this month proposed that the Council's 15-member Libya sanctions committee impose an asset freeze and travel ban on Kaniyat.

However, such a move has to be agreed by consensus and Russia said on Friday it could not approve the sanctions because it wanted to see more evidence first that the group’s members had killed civilians.

The US sanctions were imposed Wednesday under the Global Magnitsky Act, which allows the US government to target human rights violators worldwide by freezing assets and prohibiting Americans from doing business with them.

"Mohamed al-Kani and the Kaniyat militia have tortured and killed civilians during a cruel campaign of oppression in Libya," US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

“The United States stands with the Libyan people and will use the tools and authorities at its disposal to target human rights abusers in Libya and across the world,” he added.

“The Kaniyat militia is also responsible for hundreds of summary executions at Tarhouna prison, numerous forced disappearances, and the displacement of entire families from Tarhouna,” said the Treasury.



Israel Kills 40 Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 9, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 9, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israel Kills 40 Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 9, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 9, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

At least 40 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Wednesday.

Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said the dead included 17 women and 10 children. It said one strike killed 10 people from the same family, including three children.

The Israeli military did not comment on specific strikes, but said it had struck more than 100 targets across Gaza over the past day, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, missile launchers and tunnels.

The war started after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. Most of the hostages have been released in earlier ceasefires.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.