Benghazi, 5 July:
Colonel Sulaiman Hasan Bortima, an officer working for the borders control department in the district of Gharyonis in Benghazi . . .[restrict]was assassinated on Wednesday morning.
A military source stated that he was killed by a group of people driving in a Mitsubishi Lancer car, with registration plate number 8 – 12. The source added that Bortima was directly fired at and was hit by three bullets.
Although neither the identity nor the motive of the assailants has been confirmed, security officers working to prevent drug smuggling and other forms of trafficking have frequently been targeted in the east in recent months.
On 2 March, Derna’s highly respected counter-narcotics chief was assassinated by suspected drug dealers.
On Tuesday, meanwhile, security forces on the Libyan-Egyptian border crossing at Musaid abandoned their posts in protest at what they said are the dangerous conditions they have been exposed to, which included being regularly shot at by smugglers involved in human trafficking. [/restrict]
