Attacks in eastern Libya kill 6 in under 24 hours

BENGHAZI, Libya – A string of attacks in eastern Libya has killed a public prosecutor and 5 members of the security forces in less than 24 hours, judicial and medical sources said Saturday, November 9.

Since the ouster of veteran dictator Moammar Gaddafi in October 2011, eastern Libya has been hit by a wave of bombings and shootings, mostly targeting security officials.

Prosecutor Mohamed al-Naass was killed in the town of Derna on Saturday when an explosive device attached to his car detonated, a judicial source told Agence France-Presse.

Naass was responsible for the “Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar region, east of Benghazi,” the source said.

Also on Saturday, unidentified gunmen shot dead two traffic policemen, Al-Jala hospital spokeswoman Fadia al-Barghathi told Agence France-Presse.

In nearby Benghazi, Libya’s second city, gunmen driving past an army checkpoint shot dead two special forces soldiers late on Friday, November 8, she said.

Barghathi added that the body of a police lieutenant colonel, Sherif al-Ajili, had been brought to the hospital late on Friday, and that he had been “killed by a gunshot wound to the head”.

Troops and police have beefed up their presence in Benghazi to try to check the attacks, although so far their presence has done little to stop the violence.

Libya’s government has struggled to stamp its authority as militias of ex-rebels have carved their own fiefdoms in a country flooded with weapons looted from Gaddafi’s arsenal.

Violence and insecurity have also hit the capital this week.

Two people were killed and 29 others wounded in clashes between rival militias in Tripoli on Thursday, November 7, the latest incident in a wave of violence that is terrorizing residents and underlines the country’s instability. – Rappler.com