Dozens of bodies found at Libyan hospital controlled by Tripoli militia

Corpses in fridge had not been reported to authorities, Interior Ministry says

Protests have taken place in Tripoli in recent days calling for an end to militia violence. AFP

Fifty-eight bodies have been found in a mortuary refrigerator at a Tripoli hospital that was under the control of a militia involved in clashes in the Libyan city last week.

The Interior Ministry for the UN-backed government that controls western Libya said the deaths had not been reported to authorities and that 35 of the dead were unidentified.

They were discovered in Abu Salim Accident Hospital in the densely populated Abu Salim neighbourhood, the ministry said in a statement on Monday night.

Photos of corpses on beds, their faces blurred, were posted online by the ministry. Some of the dead had burns.

“So far, 23 corpses have been examined, and all necessary legal procedures have been taken, including documenting data and collecting samples,” the ministry said.

The statement said the bodies had been stored “for a period of time” without any notification to police.

Abu Salim was the territory of an armed group known as the Stabilisation Support Apparatus, whose leader Abdelghani Al Kikli – known as Ghaniwa – was killed last week, leading to days of fighting between militias.

Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah has said the government aims to eliminate all militias. AFP

Mr Al Kikli's death led to the defeat of his group by armed factions aligned with Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who heads the UN-backed government.

The clashes killed at least eight civilians, according to the UN, but Libyan authorities are yet to release an official number. A ceasefire came into effect on Wednesday.

The corpses in the hospital refrigerator were the second batch found in recent days. On Saturday, officials said nine bodies had been discovered in cold storage at Al Khadra hospital, another facility in Abu Salim controlled by the Stabilisation Support Apparatus. A criminal investigation is under way, the Interior Ministry said in a post on X.

Mr Dbeibah said on Saturday that his goal is to eliminate all militias and that it was an “ongoing project”. He said in a televised address that armed groups must align themselves with the state.

“We will welcome all those who choose to stand with the state. We will sideline those who resort to blackmail and corruption,” he said.

Certain militias “had grown excessively, to the point of controlling the entire political, financial, economic, and even social landscape”, he added.

His government on Monday posted a video online showing bulldozers knocking down a camp that had been under the control of the Stabilisation Support Apparatus. Authorities said the area would be turned into a national park.

Tripoli residents have taken to the streets in recent days to protest against the violence and demand Mr Dbeibah's resignation over the fighting.

Libya is split between the UN-recognised government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east controlled by the family of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army.

The country was divided after a Nato-backed revolt in 2011 that toppled and killed long-time leader Muammar Qaddafi.

Despite relative calm in recent years, clashes periodically break out between armed groups vying for territory. At least 55 people were killed in August 2023 during fighting between two factions in Tripoli.