Four Bangladeshi nationals have been killed by a militia group in Benghazi, Libya.
Counsellor (political) Muhammad Mozammel Haque of the Bangladesh Embassy in Libya told the Dhaka Tribune that an armed militia group opened fire on a group of Bangladeshi expatriates in the Gaursha area of Benghazi on Saturday night, leaving four dead.
“They asked them to stop while they were crossing the area. Some of them ran in fear, militia group then opened fire on them,” he said.
Three of the deceased were identified as Hasan of Jessore, Abdur Rahim of Rajbari, Humayun Kabir of Jhenaidah or Mymensingh. The other man’s identity is yet unknown.
Their bodies were being kept at Benghazi Medical College Hospital, the official said.
Bangladeshi staff working at the hospital also confirmed the deaths, he added.
“We are in touch with the friends of the deceased to send back the bodies to home,” Mozammel said.
Some 20,000-25,000 Bangladeshis are living in Libya. A good number of them are working in Benghazi. Benghazi has been disconnected with Libya since the second spate of civil war which started in July 2014. Fierce fighting is still going on there.
Yesterday afternoon State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam confirmed the deaths in a post on his official Facebook page.
“With a heavy heart, I am informing you all that four Bangladeshis were killed in a gunfight between two groups in Libya. Our embassy in Tripoli is doing necessary formalities,” Shahriar Alam wrote.
The Foreign Ministry said a hot line (+218944642154) has been opened to monitor the situation and begin the process of bringing back the dead.
Meanwhile, families of two Libya expatriates have claimed that Dae’sh militants detained them from a market in Tripoli On Friday.
The men are Asaduzzaman Russell, 24, of Thakurgaon’s Pirganj Upazila and Ripon, 22, of Munshiganj.
However, the embassy could not confirm the kidnapping, saying the men may have been taken by any group or even the law enforcement.
“Abduction has become a regular phenomenon in Libya. Some Bangladeshi expatriates are also behind such crimes with the assistance of some Libyans. They are actually exploiting the power vacuum,” Counsellor Mozammel Haque said.
“Many Bangladeshis were abducted in the recent past who were later released on ransom,” he added.
He said the embassy had contacted all law enforcement agencies in that area including Tripoli based agencies but nobody had claimed the kidnapping.
Sometimes law enforcement detains expatriates because of the lack of proper documents and they are later released with the embassy’s intervention, the counsellor said.
