BENGHAZI — Libya’s security authorities have freed more than 200 migrants from what they described as a secret prison in the town of Kufra in the southeast of the country after they were held captive in inhuman conditions, two security sources from the city told Reuters on Sunday. The security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the security authorities had found an underground prison, nearly three meters deep, which the sources said was run by a Libyan human trafficker. AFP via Getty Images“Some of the freed migrants were held captive up to two years in the underground cells,” this source said. The freed migrants are from sub-Saharan Africa, mainly from Somalia and Eritrea, including women and children, the sources said. The oil-based Libyan economy is also a draw for impoverished migrants seeking work, but security throughout the sprawling country is poor, leaving migrants vulnerable to abuses.

Source: Libya Today January 18, 2026 20:43 UTC