Libya: More mass graves exposed as NATO-backed war nears 12-year mark

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According to the missing persons authority in Libya, a "mass grave" was discovered in Sirte, a coastal Libyan city, located on the grounds of a former school.

"DNA samples have been taken for analysis in coordination with the office of forensic medicine," by exhumation teams that were able to retrieve "42 unidentified bodies," according to a statement released on Sunday by the official authority.

Since the 2011 West-led war on Libya, the country has been split between the two parties, with the rival sides of the conflict concluding their latest round of talks a month ago without reaching a deal to try and agree on the rules for the country's elections.

The two opposing governments have held two separate bases, one in Tripoli with the recognition of the United Nations and the other in the central city of Sirte.

After the NATO-backed insurgency in Libya that was accompanied by a direct hostile intervention by the alliance, Libya has been a battlefield for global powers, which led to different regions of the country falling under the control of various factions and militants due to the lack of any stable and central governance of the war-torn country.

Read more: Natural Resources in Libya

In its turn, Sirte was held by IS terrorists following the war, between the years 2015-2016 until the city was taken over by the government in Tripoli, knowing that the area witnessed mass executions and mass graves, some of which have been revealed in the past few years, while many others are yet to be discovered.