TIME In Progress

Dispatch from Tripoli: Photographs by Christopher Morris

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.

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.

A supporter of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi holds a poster overlooking a demonstration in Ban-Waled, March 23, 2011. The crowd begins to gather in Ban-Waled, March 23, 2011. A Gaddafi supporter in Ban-Waled, March 23, 2011. Supporters of Gaddafi vent their anger towards the foreign media in Ban-Waled, March 23, 2011. The outskirts of the demonstration in Ban-Waled, March 23, 2011. A man on a mobile phone in Ban-Waled, March 23, 2011. A Gaddafi loyalist stands amid the wreckage of a building struck by missiles in Tripoli, Libya, March 22, 2011. Empty streets in Tripoli, March 22, 2011. A press conference in the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli, March 22, 2011. A man watches television, March 22, 2011. A Gaddafi supporter holds a portrait of the Libyan leader for the media during a tour of a building struck by missiles, March 22, 2011. Anti aircraft fire over Tripoli Cruise Missile strike in Tripoli Cruise missile strike in Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli Cruise missile strike in Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli Cruise missile strike in Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli Tripoli residents bury some bombing victims at the martyrs cemetery in Tripoli Tripoli residents bury some bombing victims at the martyrs cemetery in Tripoli Tripoli residents bury some bombing victims at the martyrs cemetery in Tripoli Tripoli residents bury some bombing victims at the martyrs cemetery in Tripoli Tripoli residents bury some bombing victims at the martyrs cemetery in Tripoli Tripoli residents bury some bombing victims at the martyrs cemetery in Tripoli Tripoli residents bury some bombing victims at the martyrs cemetery in Tripoli Tripoli residents bury some bombing victims at the martyrs cemetery in Tripoli Tripoli residents bury some bombing victims at the martyrs cemetery in Tripoli Ayesha Gaddafi, daughter of Muammar Gaddafi, with loyalist supporters in Tripoli Loyalist residents of Tripoli A Libyan soldier at nightfall

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