Libya’s Ministry of Interior of the Government of National Unity announced on Monday that two bodies had been recovered from a mass grave discovered in the Abu Salim district of Tripoli, following information received by authorities about the site.
According to a statement published by the ministry on its official social media pages, the recovery operation was carried out under the supervision of the Office of the Attorney General. The operation involved a crime scene investigation team from the forensic laboratories and evidence department of the Criminal Investigation Department, as well as members of the Security Directorates Support Unit.
Authorities said security personnel moved to the site immediately after receiving the report, launching inspection and excavation procedures to verify the information and search the area.
The ministry confirmed that search and combing operations led to the recovery of two bodies from the location. Officials added that the remains were handled in accordance with the technical and legal procedures applied in such cases, including forensic examination and documentation.
Investigators are continuing search operations at the site while completing the necessary legal and forensic procedures as part of an ongoing investigation aimed at determining the circumstances of the incident and identifying the victims.
A day earlier, the Security Directorates Support Unit reported receiving information indicating that the site could contain the bodies of four individuals who were allegedly kidnapped, tortured, and killed before being buried in a mass grave in Abu Salim.
Authorities suggested that the victims may have been killed by members of the now-defunct Stability Support Apparatus, a powerful armed group that previously operated in Tripoli.
In recent months, the Interior Ministry has reported the discovery of dozens of bodies believed to belong to individuals allegedly killed by members of the apparatus when it was led by Abdulghani al-Kikli, widely known as “Ghneiwa”.
The group’s influence effectively ended in May 2025 after al-Kikli was killed during clashes with the 444th Combat Brigade, which later took control of the apparatus’s headquarters in Tripoli before handing them over to state security institutions.