Libya: Unidentified bodies discovered in a hospital morgue in Tripoli

Authorities in Libya reported Monday,May 19,that they had found 58 unidentified bodies kept for a long time in a morgue at the Abu-Saleem Hospital,in southern Tripoli,which is run by a strong armed group.

The Interior Ministry claimed in a Facebook post that the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA),a militia affiliated with the Presidency Council in Tripoli,was in charge of the morgue. According to the ministry,the bodies had been held “for a long time without notifying the judiciary or relevant Police departments.” Legal processes and forensic sampling are currently in progress.

The finding coincides with escalating tensions in the capital after days of violent clashes between the SSA and Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah’s militia,the 444 Brigade. Following the reported death of an SSA commander in a 444 Brigade-controlled facility last week,fighting broke out. Ten bodies were found in a mass grave south of Tripoli on Sunday,according to the 444 Brigade,which claimed the SSA was responsible for the deaths.

Since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in an uprising supported by NATO in 2011,Libya has remained unstable and divided. There are two competing governments in the country: the internationally recognized Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli and an eastern government supported by Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA). Armed groups still operate largely unhindered throughout GNU-held territory,especially in Tripoli,where conflicting factions regularly vie for resources and power.