Tripoli, Dec 24 (IANS): Libyan authorities said that four unidentified bodies were recovered from two newly discovered mass graves in the city of Tarhuna, some 90 km south of the capital Tripoli.

Each of the two graves contained two bodies, Xinhua news agency quoted the General Authority for Research and Identification of Missing Persons as saying in a statement on Wednesday.

Search is underway for more mass graves in the city, the statement said.

The forces of the UN-backed Libyan government have been accusing the rival eastern-based army of mass killings in Tarhuna, where dozens of unidentified bodies have been recovered so far.

The two sides had been engaged in a deadly armed conflict for more than a year in and around Tripoli, which ended recently with the UN-backed government taking over all of western Libya after the withdrawal of the eastern-based army.

Tarhuna was once the eastern-based army's main military operation centre.