More than 20 local residents from Sabratha were abducted in Surman on Friday in retaliation for the recent arrest of a criminal gang.

Sabratha Municipality strongly condemned the abduction of the locals by a criminal gang headed by an outlaw named Al-Nimri, after the arrest of 7 members of his gang in raids.

The municipality said Al-Nimri's gang is responsible for a lot of abductions and blackmailing in the western region, including Al-Shirshari’s three children and Farouk Al-Fathali who have been kidnapped for six months now.

“We reaffirm our full commitment to our Islamic laws and the Libyan State’s legislations, yet we reassure every Libyan that we won’t give in to those culprits and we will leave no stone unturned in our chase of those affiliated with the kidnap and extortion cases until the whole district is safe and secure.” The municipality stated in a statement.

It also said that those criminal gangs brought plenty of sabotage to the area and spread the feelings of terror and horror among all of the residents, which encumbered the economic and trading environment in the western region and thus pushed out the businessmen who were a great boost to the economy of the region.

“Once the businessmen left the region for security reasons, the daily lifestyle of the citizens got badly affected.’ The statement reads.

The statement concluded by blaming the specialized authorities for being negligent and inaudible enough to take care of the city, pointing that the municipality shoulders the responsibility of the escalated situation on the Libyan state authorities as well as it urges them to immediately interfere and end those threatening violations.