Benghazi:
A Libyan commander in the forces of prominent anti-Islamist general Khalifa Haftar has been assassinated in the eastern city of Ajdabiya, military sources said today.
"General Abdelmajid al-Zwei was killed on Thursday night by three armed men," Colonel Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for Haftar's forces, told AFP.
He said that Zwei, who was also a relative of retired general Haftar, had opened fire at his assailants, one of whom was wounded and later died of his injuries.
A medical source confirmed the two deaths.
Islamist militants frequently target army officers in restive eastern Libya, where Haftar has been waging a government-backed campaign against militias to wrest back control of Libya's second city of Benghazi.
At least 356 people have been killed since the offensive was launched in October, according to medical and security sources.
More than three years after dictator Moamer Kadhafi was toppled and killed in a NATO-backed revolt, Libya is awash with weapons and powerful militias, and has rival governments and parliaments.
"General Abdelmajid al-Zwei was killed on Thursday night by three armed men," Colonel Ahmed al-Mesmari, spokesman for Haftar's forces, told AFP.
He said that Zwei, who was also a relative of retired general Haftar, had opened fire at his assailants, one of whom was wounded and later died of his injuries.
A medical source confirmed the two deaths.
Islamist militants frequently target army officers in restive eastern Libya, where Haftar has been waging a government-backed campaign against militias to wrest back control of Libya's second city of Benghazi.
At least 356 people have been killed since the offensive was launched in October, according to medical and security sources.
More than three years after dictator Moamer Kadhafi was toppled and killed in a NATO-backed revolt, Libya is awash with weapons and powerful militias, and has rival governments and parliaments.
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