Date: Jan 25, 2018 Source: The Daily Star Gang suspected of torturing migrants in Libya Agence France Presse TRIPOLI: An armed group loyal to Libya’s national unity government said Wednesday it had arrested a gang accused of kidnapping and torturing Sudanese migrants near the northern city of Sirte. The gang, made up of “five Libyans and one Palestinian ... had tortured eight migrants,” said the Sirte Security and Protection Force, one of several groups that took part in the unity government’s battle to oust Daesh (ISIS) group from the city last year. The migrants are being treated at the Ibn Sina Hospital in Sirte, 450 kilometers east of Tripoli, it said. The arrests took place in Qaddahiya, a village south of Sirte, “after the publication of a video on social media showing scenes of African migrants undergoing unbearable torture,” it said. The video shows the migrants being severely burned by their captors, who demand ransoms from their families. The eight kidnapped migrants were released, the pro-government force said. Libya has long been a transit hub for migrants seeking a better life in Europe, but people smugglers have stepped up their lucrative business in the chaos since the 2011 revolution. Libyan authorities have come under fire over migrant abuses since the airing late last year by CNN of footage showing a slave market in the North African country. Last year alone, 3,116 people died attempting the crossing, according to the International Organization for Migration, including 2,833 from Libya. But there has been a sharp drop in crossing attempts since the summer of 2017 following efforts by Italy to discourage migrants from trying to make the journey.