By Noora Ibrahim.
Benghazi, 26 February 2014:
At least two security officials have been killed and another injured in a series of separate . . .[restrict]assassinations in Benghazi today.
Spokesman for Benghazi Joint Security Room (BJSR) Ibrahim Al-Sharaa told the Libya Herald that the first assassination took place at 10am in front of Marwa Hospital in the city’s Majouri district. Gunmen shot and killed a member of the Isned Al-Amni force Siddik Sultan Suleiman, who was pronounced dead on arrival at Benghazi Medical Centre (BMC).
The second, unsuccessful, attempt was made on the life of an officer in Saiqa Special Forces’ Criminal Investigation Unit outside the same hospital in Majouri some hours later. The officer, who has not been identified for security reasons, was taken to a Benghazi hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds. Sharaa said the officer’s colleagues were able to return fire during the attack which came from a white Toyota pick-up.
Later in the day gunmen murdered retired, former judicial police officer Ali Mohammed Al-Barrat outside his home in Gurwasha. Sharaa said Barrat was was killed by two bullets to the head and pronounced dead on arrival at BMC. He was 65 years old.
It is not known whether his killing is linked to a series of attacks on judges and judicial police in Benghazi which provoked strikes over deteriorating security conditions last week.
There have also been reports that three other security officials were assassinated today in Benghazi, including another member of Saiqa Special Forces Brigade and a member of Benghazi Security Directorate. These, however, remain unconfirmed.
The deaths have provoked a strong reaction from Benghazi residents, sparking a number of small, local protests in neighbourhoods across the city, condemning the attacks and demanding that the government intervene to end the city’s security crisis. [/restrict]
