14 – 20 Aug: Chinese engineers kidnapped near Qatroun

Aug 21, 2019 | Other Jihadi Actors

On 16 August, an unknown armed group kidnapped two Chinese nationals in the desert 75 km south of the border town of Qatroun in southwest Libya. The Chinese nationals reportedly worked as chemical engineers at one of the gold mining sites in the area.

Neither the Libyan authorities, nor the Chinese authorities have commented on the incident. The identity of the kidnappers has not been verified, but it is possible that the kidnap has been carried out by local militias on behalf of jihadi groups in the Sahel.