Landmines and booby traps left in Tripoli suburbs linked to Wagner

Human Rights Watch found that MON-50, MON-200 and OZM-72 mines, not previously recorded in Libya, were laid at 35 locations in Ain Zara (southern Tripoli) mapped on a tablet attributed to a Wagner operative, in areas where Wagner was present before its June 2020 withdrawal. The Libyan Mine Action Centre recorded 130 killed and 196 injured by mines and other explosive ordnance from May 2020 to March 2022, mostly civilians in Tripoli's southern suburbs. The UN Fact-Finding Mission on Libya (October 2021) said Haftar's forces and Wagner 'may have violated' the principle of proportionality.

Established by. Human Rights Watch investigation (31 May 2022) based on BBC-obtained tablet and field verification; UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Libya report A/HRC/48/83 (October 2021) on related IHL concerns.

Latest. HRW urged the ICC to investigate; no charges known as of 2026.

Link to the war against Ukraine. Russia's use of anti-personnel mines and booby traps in Ukrainian territories mirrors this pattern.