BENGHAZI: Over 100 migrants, including five women, have been released from captivity in eastern Libya after being held by a group that forced their families to pay ransoms.

According to the attorney general's office, the criminal group was involved in migrant smuggling, trafficking, and torture.

Libya has become a critical transit point for migrants seeking to reach Europe, particularly since the fall of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.

This shift has led to numerous incidents of exploitation by traffickers.

The freed migrants were being held in Ajdabiya, approximately 100 miles from Benghazi.

The attorney general's office and the Ajdabiya security directorate have arrested five suspected traffickers, including nationals from Libya, Sudan, and Egypt.

They shared images on their Facebook pages showing signs of abuse among the captives.

In recent months, there have been several grim discoveries related to migrant suffering in Libya.

In February alone, at least 28 bodies were found in a mass grave near Kufra city, with similar incidents reported elsewhere.

As of December 2024, UN data estimated that around 825,000 migrants from 47 countries are present in Libya.

The EU migration commissioner and officials from Italy, Malta, and Greece recently met with Libya's internationally recognized Prime Minister to address the ongoing migration crisis.