Gunmen kill security chief in Libya’s Sirte
23 Jan 2015 1:01 AM GMT
Armed men shot dead the head of security in the Islamist-held coastal city of Sirte, hometown of slain dictator Muammar Gaddafi, a security source said.
Colonel Senussi Kaiba was killed along with his driver when gunmen opened fire at their car in a residential area of the city, the source said. Security services were placed on high alert and a manhunt launched for the assailants who fled after the attack, the source added.
Two days earlier a local administration official escaped unhurt after gunmen opened fire at him in a similar attack. Sirte is in the hands of Islamist militias, including Ansar al-Sharia, which the UN added to its terror list in November over links to al-Qaeda and for running camps for the Islamic State jihadist group. The Far Libya (Libya Dawn) alliance of Islamist-backed militias is also present in the city which lies 500 kilometres east of Tripoli.
More than three years since Gaddafi was ousted and killed in a NATO-backed uprising, oil-rich Libya is awash with weapons and has two rival governments and powerful militias battling for territory.
Fajr Libya declared a ceasefire last week after an agreement at a meeting in Geneva on a roadmap to form a unity government.
Colonel Senussi Kaiba was killed along with his driver when gunmen opened fire at their car in a residential area of the city, the source said. Security services were placed on high alert and a manhunt launched for the assailants who fled after the attack, the source added.
Two days earlier a local administration official escaped unhurt after gunmen opened fire at him in a similar attack. Sirte is in the hands of Islamist militias, including Ansar al-Sharia, which the UN added to its terror list in November over links to al-Qaeda and for running camps for the Islamic State jihadist group. The Far Libya (Libya Dawn) alliance of Islamist-backed militias is also present in the city which lies 500 kilometres east of Tripoli.
More than three years since Gaddafi was ousted and killed in a NATO-backed uprising, oil-rich Libya is awash with weapons and has two rival governments and powerful militias battling for territory.
Fajr Libya declared a ceasefire last week after an agreement at a meeting in Geneva on a roadmap to form a unity government.
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