Libya, clashes between GNA Interior Minister forces and Zawiya militias
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Alaina
- . February 22, 2021
- . Update: February 28, 2021 2:10 am
The file relating to the attack on the Minister of the Interior of the Government of National Accord (GNA) of Libya Fathi Bashagha has been transferred to the office of the Attorney General, the Interior Ministry said. On Sunday, a source from the Bashagha security service said the minister’s convoy was attacked as he was returning to his residence in Gianzur, just outside Tripoli. Three people opened fire on the convoy from an armored Toyota, according to an official statement from the Ministry. The official’s security officers killed one of the attackers. Two other people involved in the attack were arrested.
“There was an attempted assassination of the Minister of the Interior of the National Accord Government Fathi Bashagha. The employees of the judicial bodies have taken all necessary measures to refer the case to the Attorney General in order to initiate a judicial investigation.” The Ministry of the Interior stated, indicating that the minister was unharmed, while one of the security officers has been injured in the clash with the group from Zawiya.
The authorities of the new temporary unified executive, President Mohammed Al-Menfi and Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dabaiba, have asked that the judicial and police authorities urgently open a fair and transparent investigation into the circumstances of the incident, ensuring any responsible justice.
Tripoli’s chief prosecutor ordered the delivery of Radwan al-Hungari’s body to his family on Sunday, after the coroner’s report clarified that the victim’s body was not injured by bullets or shrapnel, adding that the injuries are compatible with those of a road accident. The radiographs also confirmed that the cause of death were rib fractures accompanied by lacerations to the lungs, which would have led to severe bleeding inside the thoracic cavity, a fracture of the right femur and the bones of the left leg.
Libya has been divided between two opposing governments since the overthrow and assassination of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The administrations internationally recognized the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA) respectively control the west and the East of the Country.The United Nations is mediating between Tripoli and General Khalifa Haftar’s forces to arrive at a resolution of the crisis. A ceasefire agreement was reached in Geneva last October, and negotiations have begun to install a new executive authority to take the country to elections next December, 24.
