At least 58 unidentified bodies have been found in a Tripoli hospital after recent clashes between rival militias in western Libya, according to local authorities.
Libya’s interior ministry said investigations were underway to determine the identities of the bodies, 23 of which have so far been examined.
“All necessary legal procedures have been taken, including documenting data and collecting samples,” the ministry said in a statement.
The bodies were found on May 19 in a hospital controlled by a local militia whose leader was killed last week in an attack by a rival armed faction.
According to the interior ministry, the bodies were found in the Abu Salim Hospital, which is located in Tripoli’s densely populated Abu Salim district.
Two days earlier, nine other unidentified bodies were found at the Al-Khadra Hospital in the same district, authorities said.
Until recently, the Abu Salim district was largely controlled by an armed faction known as the Stabilization Support Apparatus (SSA).
On May 12, SSA leader Abdulghani Kikli, popularly known as Ghaniwa, was killed in Tripoli by a rival armed faction known as the 444th Brigade.
Simultaneously, SSA units elsewhere in western Libya were attacked and defeated by armed factions aligned with Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, leader of Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU).
The following day, fierce clashes erupted in Tripoli between local militias aligned with al-Dbeibah and the self-styled Special Deterrence Force, or “Rada,” an armed faction opposed to the prime minister.
According to the United Nations, at least eight civilians were killed in the fighting.
After two days of clashes, Libya’s defense ministry said that “regular forces in coordination with the relevant security authorities” were taking “the necessary measures to ensure calm, including the deployment of neutral units.”
The neutralization of the SSA appeared to consolidate the power of al-Dbeibah, Libya’s internationally recognized prime minister and an ally of Turkey.
Like the GNU, the SSA had operated within the framework of a Presidential Council that came to power in 2021 through a political process backed by the U.N.
In the same year, scheduled elections failed to take place due to ongoing differences between rival factions, allowing al-Dbeibah to remain in power.
Calls for Prime Minister to Resign
On May 16, three GNU ministers abruptly resigned after hundreds of protesters gathered in Tripoli’s Martyrs’ Square to demand al-Dbeibah’s resignation and fresh elections.Demonstrators accused al-Dbeibah of failing to restore calm to the capital and curtail the power and influence of armed factions.
On the same day, the U.N.’s Mission in Libya expressed concern about ongoing violence, urging all parties to ensure the safety of Tripoli’s civilian population.
In a televised address on May 17, al-Dbeibah said the elimination of armed groups operating outside state control was an “ongoing project.”
“We will not spare anyone who continues to engage in corruption or extortion,” he said. “Our goal is to create a Libya free of militias and corruption.”
In a statement released on May 18, al-Dbeibah’s office reiterated that the GNU sought to “eliminate armed formations outside the police and army institutions.”
Libya has remained in a state of relative turmoil since 2011, when a NATO-backed uprising led to the ouster and death of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.
In 2014, the country was divided between two rival political forces, with the Tripoli-based GNU ruling western Libya—despite internal divisions—and veteran army commander Khalifa Haftar holding sway in the country’s east.
