Special Forces colonel survives assassination attempt

Benghazi, 13 August 2013:

Benghazi Special Forces Colonel Jalal Elorfi survived an assassination attempt this morning when a car-bomb underneath . . .[restrict]his vehicle was detonated.

Elorfi did, however, sustain a serious leg injury and broken bones in the blast. The device had been placed under the driver’s seat of the vehicle, which was parked outside his house in the Al-Sabree district of Benghazi.

Elorfi played a prominent role in the 17 February Revolution and was apparently one of the first senior military personnel to defect from the old regime. He also took part in the storming of Qaddafi’s largest battalion in Benghazi, Al-Fadhile Bou Omar.

Military and security personnel in the east of the country have been targeted in a series of attacks that the Interior Ministry recently described as “systematic.” More than 50 people have been assassinated, according to a recent report by NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW).

The international human rights NGO also pointed out that no arrests had been made and investigations appear to have been substandard.