By Sami Zaptia.
London, 20 February 2016:
The Attorney General/Public Prosecutors Office has confirmed in a statement today that it has flown about . . .[restrict]40 corpses from the US Sabratha bombing site to Tripoli, including the two corpses of Serbian diplomats Sladjana Stankovic and Jovica Stepic.
The confirmation of the number of corpses comes on the back of speculation that there could have been as many as 60 IS members in the bombed building. However, there are some unconfirmed reports that some IS survivors had escaped the scene and that some scattered bodies were beyond identification.
The PPO said that it been out to ‘‘conduct the necessary investigations’’ at the site of the air strike at the Gaser Allalga area of Sabratha, 8 kms west of the city.
The statement confirmed that they had inspected ‘’more than 40 corpses’’ held at Sabratha hospital which were inspected by official medical officers. It also revealed that DNA samples and finger prints were collected as well as photographs were taken of all corpses.
Statements were also collected from injured survivors of the bombing. The survivors had confirmed, according to the PPO statement, that they ‘’were members of IS/DAESH’’ and that ‘’they had come to Libya to train and from there launch terror activities inside the Republic of Tunisia’’
The PPO had also issued instructions that the corpses, survivors, anyone associated with the case as well as evidence are transferred to Tripoli to continue investigations.
The Rada (Special Deterrence Force-SDF) later released photos of bodies being flown to Tripoli Mitiga airport. [/restrict]