At least 11 Sudanese migrants killed in car crash in Libyan desert, authorities say

Libya has become a main transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East and hoping to reach Europe, with people traffickers exploiting more than a decade of instability.

Eleven Sudanese migrants have been killed in a car crash in the desert in Libya, authorities have said, the latest tragedy involving Sudanese people fleeing the civil war in their home country.The crash between the migrants' vehicle and a truck happened early on Friday, 90 kilometres north of the town of Kufra, the local Ambulance and Emergency Service said in a statement.The dead included three women and two children and the group's Libyan driver, the service's director Ibrahim Abu al-Hassan told The Associated Press.A 65-year-old man and his 10-year-old son were also wounded in the crash, he added.It was the latest deadly incident involving Sudanese migrants in the Libyan desert.Earlier this month, seven Sudanese nationals were found dead after their vehicle broke down in the desert. The vehicle broke down on a path used by traffickers between Chad and Libya, leaving 34 migrants on board stranded for several days in the desert.Libya was plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.It has become a main transit point for migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East and hoping to reach Europe.The country shares borders with six nations and has a long coastline along the Mediterranean.Exploiting instabilityHuman traffickers have benefited from more than a decade of instability, smuggling migrants across Libya’s borders with six nations, including Chad, Niger, Sudan Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia.Thousands of Sudanese have fled to Libya since April 2023 after simmering tensions between the Sudanese military and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) exploded into street fighting across the country.The conflict in Sudan has turned into a civil war that killed thousands people, displaced over 14 million, and pushed parts of the county into famine.