Islamic State corpses await repatriation after force was defeated in Sirte, Libya

Hundreds of Islamic State bodies are waiting to be taken back to their countries after the force was defeated in December, in the coastal city of Sirte in Libya.

The corpses are now in Misrata – West of the country, under the forces that fought IS.

Shipping the bodies back to Tunisia, Sudan and Egypt remains complicated as such governments will find it difficult to determine how many of their citizens left to fight as jihadists in Iraq, Syria and Libya.

“The team has removed hundreds of bodies during the ‘Bonyan al-Marsoos’ operation. This is the main operation which allows us to reserve the bodies, document and photograph them and collect DNA samples”, said a masked member of the organized crime unit, his name withheld for security reasons.

As talks over return of bodies with foreign governments continue, the Crime Unit says its waiting for a decision from the Prosecutor General.

At the height of its dominance, Islamic State recruited fighters from Middle East, North Africa and Europe. In Tunisia alone, officials say more than 3,000 citizens left to fight in Syria, Iraq and Libya.

Islamic State has been defeated in its main stronghold in the Iraqi city of Mosul and is under pressure in its base in the Syrian city of Raqqa.

It took over Sirte in 2015, using the city as a base from which to attack oil fields and other nearby towns.

Reuters