A gruesome video has been circulating on Facebook showing a summary execution of at least ten people in Benghazi, the second largest city in Libya, in revenge for the recent twin car bombing.
The video features about ten blindfolded men wearing blue jumpsuits kneeling before their camouflage-clad executioner with a silenced AK-47 rifle in his hands.
READ MORE:Terrorist Attack in Libya's Benghazi Kills 33, Injures Over 70 Others
Moments later the kneeling men are shot and seen hitting the floor. The location has been identified as the entrance to Benghazi’s Bayaat al-Radwan mosque where less than 24 hours earlier at least 35 people were killed in twin car bomb attacks, Reuters earlier reported.
The UN quickly condemned the summary execution:
"Those responsible for committing or ordering summary executions are criminally liable under international law."
It said in a statement on Twitter that the shooter was presumably Mahmoud al-Werfalli, a special forces commander in the Libyan National Army, now wanted by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of playing a part in a range of earlier atrocities.
"[The U.N. demands] the handing over of Mahmoud al-Werfalli immediately to (the ICC) as it documented at least 5 similar cases, in 2017 alone, carried out or ordered by al-Werfalli."
#Libya- the full video purportedly depicting Mahmoud Warfali's latest execution in #Benghazi shows technicals blocking the street, crowds (in military and civilian clothing, including children) cheering during the executions and celebrating afterwards pic.twitter.com/Xa3T18RdtD
— Oded Berkowitz (@Oded121351) 25 января 2018 г.
The footage uploaded on Facebook by a Libyan photographer, Mohammed Ajali, comes with a comment publicizing the Libyan National Army and stating that a similar act of retribution awaits any Islamist who dares stage a new terrorist act. Ajali explains that 10 "terrorists" were killed at the request of the families who lost their beloved in the Tuesday bombings.
"This time 10, the bombing after 15, and after 20 and so on. This is how the price is calculated," Ajali wrote.
Twitter is currently flooded in sympathetic comments surrounding the two recent tragic events.
Shocking video shows mass execution of prisoners in #Libya’s Benghazi — Graphic footage: https://t.co/NR5cDd0HWs pic.twitter.com/FULVOBmoLq
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) 25 января 2018 г.
Some feel compassion and state that nothing has changed so far in war-torn Libya.
Others engage in a politicized debate on whether non-Islamists are any better than terrorists since they resort to the same gruesome acts of revenge ignoring the basic human rights for life and freedom:
So you are fighting for the rights of ISIS in Libya??? What about the explosions that killed 35 civilians and children killed by ISIS??? They have rights too? Or only the execution of ISIS hurt you? 😡
— Salwa Noor 🇾 (@SalwaNoor75) 25 января 2018 г.
Al-Werfalli is from an elite special forces unit attached to Khalifa Haftar-led Libyan National Army (LNA), which controls Benghazi and reportedly battled Islamists until late 2017. Al-Werfalli has proved to be an elusive figure since ICC issued a warrant to detain him.
Haftar, being increasingly courted by the international community as he gained power on the ground, is largely seen as a credible candidate in the Libyan presidential vote slated for the end of 2018.
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