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Libya’s Dbeibah Seeks to Contain Zawiya Militias after Al-Bidja’s Assassination

Head of Libya’s Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah is seen with Abdulrahman Milad, also known as “Al-Bidja,” the Commander of the Naval Academy. (File photo)
Head of Libya’s Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah is seen with Abdulrahman Milad, also known as “Al-Bidja,” the Commander of the Naval Academy. (File photo)
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Libya’s Dbeibah Seeks to Contain Zawiya Militias after Al-Bidja’s Assassination

Head of Libya’s Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah is seen with Abdulrahman Milad, also known as “Al-Bidja,” the Commander of the Naval Academy. (File photo)
Head of Libya’s Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah is seen with Abdulrahman Milad, also known as “Al-Bidja,” the Commander of the Naval Academy. (File photo)

Head of Libya’s Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah ordered on Monday an investigation into the assassination of Abdulrahman Milad, also known as “Al-Bidja,” the Commander of the Naval Academy.

Gunmen shot dead Al-Bidja in front of the Academy of Naval Studies in Janzour on Sunday.

Soon after, armed groups, including members of the 103rd infantry brigade, also known as the Al-Silaa brigade, headed by Othman al-Lahab, mobilized towards the al-Sayyad area in al-Zawiya, shutting the coastal road connecting it to the capital Tripoli.

Dbeibah mourned Al-Bidja’s death and ordered the Interior Ministry and relevant agencies to open an immediate probe into his killing.

Member of the Presidential Council Abdullah al-Lafi and head of the High Council of State Khalid al-Mishri also mourned Al-Bidja.

Mishri called on the concerned agencies to uncover the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

Tensions were high between rival factions in Zawiya in wake of the deployment of the armed groups.

Al-Bidja was named in a 2018 UN report for involvement in human trafficking and human rights abuses. The US Treasury slapped sanctions against him that same year.

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Syrians Recover Human Remains from Site Used by Hezbollah and Other Assad Allies

An aerial view taken with a drone shows members of the Syrian Civil Defense group, the White Helmets, loading human remains in body bags on a truck in the Sayyida Zeinab district of Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
An aerial view taken with a drone shows members of the Syrian Civil Defense group, the White Helmets, loading human remains in body bags on a truck in the Sayyida Zeinab district of Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
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Syrians Recover Human Remains from Site Used by Hezbollah and Other Assad Allies

An aerial view taken with a drone shows members of the Syrian Civil Defense group, the White Helmets, loading human remains in body bags on a truck in the Sayyida Zeinab district of Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024. (EPA)
An aerial view taken with a drone shows members of the Syrian Civil Defense group, the White Helmets, loading human remains in body bags on a truck in the Sayyida Zeinab district of Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024. (EPA)

The Syrian Civil Defense group, known as the White Helmets, uncovered at least 21 corpses as well as incomplete human remains on Wednesday in the Sayyida Zeinab suburb of the capital Damascus.

The discovery was made at a site previously used by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran-backed Iraqi militias, both allies of deposed President Bashar al-Assad during the country’s civil war.

The site included a field kitchen, a drugstore and a morgue, according to Ammar al-Salmo, an official with the White Helmets, a volunteer organization that operated in areas that were controlled by the opposition.

Rescue teams in white hazmat suits searched the site, located not far from the revered shrine of Sayyida Zeinab. The remains were placed into black bags and loaded onto a truck as bystanders from the neighborhood looked on.

“Some (of the remains) are skeletons, others are incomplete, and there are bags of small bones. We cannot yet determine the number of victims,” al-Salmo said.

“Damascus has become a mass grave,” he said, pointing out the growing reports of war-related graves and burial sites in the capital and other places in Syria.

Iran and Hezbollah provided Assad’s government with military, financial and logistical support during the civil war.