Despite massive airstrikes by the U.S. and its military allies, TIME contract photographer Christopher Morris remains in Tripoli, documenting the ongoing conflict and its aftermath.
Morris visited embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi’s headquarters twice on Saturday, part of an official tour conducted by the regime. “It’s something straight out of a bad James Bond movie,” Morris said. Inside the compound, he encountered a devout Gaddafi supporter who began slapping his forearm, the way a heroin addict prepares his veins, screaming, “Muammar is in my blood.”
That very same compound was struck by missiles Sunday night. After the airstrike, Morris and a group of journalists were loaded onto a bus to tour the compound once again, the third time in two days. “They tell us where we are going, they just don’t tell us why,” Morris said. “Upon our arrival, you could sense that things were very different. All of the lights in the inner walls were out and anti-aircraft guns were moved into the open. We were rushed to a large building in the center of the compound that was hit two hours earlier by some kind of missile strike. Soldiers and journalists picked through the rubble pulling out missile parts that were still warm.”
Note: This gallery will be updated regularly. More of Morris’s work from Libya can be seen here.
