East Libya military intelligence chief killed in car bomb blast

The head of military intelligence for eastern Libya’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) has been killed in a targeted assassination, according to eastern Libyan authorities.

Major-General Fawzi al-Mansouri was killed after an improvised explosive device was detonated as he entered his car outside his home in Benghazi’s Hawari district late on Monday, the Reuters news service reported, citing two security sources.

list of 3 items

list 1 of 3US push for unified Libyan government tests Tripoli factions
list 2 of 3Turkiye and Libya’s Haftar are boosting military ties. Is Egypt worried?
list 3 of 3Protests erupt in Libya’s Tripoli as anger grows over power cuts

end of list

Prime minister of the Eastern Libyan government, Osama Saad Hammad, condemned the killing and pledged to “uncover the circumstances of the crime”.

“We condemn, in the strongest terms, this treacherous terrorist act,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

“There is no place in Libya for anyone who raises arms against the state, and no cover for anyone who plans, executes, finances, or incites assassination and terrorism crimes,” he added.

Al-Mansouri was appointed as director of military intelligence in Benghazi, with the rank of major-general, in 2024.

The killing highlights continuing security challenges in Libya, where rival administrations and armed groups ⁠have retained influence despite a ⁠2020 ceasefire that halted major warfare.

Libya split in 2014 between rival eastern and western factions after a ⁠2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The LNA, led by military commander Khalifa Haftar, controls much of eastern and southern Libya. It is aligned with authorities based in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Unity is based in the capital Tripoli and controls much of the west of the country.

Al Jazeera – Breaking News, World News and Video from Al Jazeera wp:paragraph