The Libyan Presidential Council (PC) has condemned mass killings in Tarhouna and accused criminal gangs loyal to Khalifa Haftar's forces of committing the crime.

The PC said in a statement on Sunday that the criminal gangs had killed in cold blood tens of residents in Tarhouna.

"This coward crime amounts to a genocide. We vow to bring all those responsible for the atrocity to justice." The PC said.

It called on the international community and Security Council sanctions committee to take strict measures toward such crimes, urging the UNSMIL to probe the incident.

The crime was also condemned by Tarhouna Protection Force of the Libyan Army under the command of Presidential Council's government, holding Kanyat militia, backed by Haftar, accountable for it.

The force said scores were killed, including a member of the Tarhouna municipality and two members of the city's elders' council.

It also called on the residents of the city to side with the right against wrong and on the UNSMIL to document the crime in order to try the perpetrators at the International Criminal Court.

Media sources said that Kanyat militia in Tarhouna killed in a mass murder about 50 people, including Haftar's opponents and February revolution figures.