By Libya Herald reporter.
Benghazi, 4 November 2016:
In what appears to have been an assassination attempt, the head of the Magharba tribe, Salah Al-Atewish, was injured today when his car exploded after he had just left a mosque in Benghazi following Friday prayers. He was taken to hospital along with a colleague also injured by the blast. “He’s in good condition,” a family member told the Libya Herald.
The colleague, however, is said to be in a critical condition.
The explosion occurred in the city’s Sidi Faraj district. It appears that a bomb had been placed under his car. It is not known at present if there were other casualties.
Local observers are linking the assassination bid to claims that the Presidency Council’s acting defence minister Al-Mahdi Al-Barghathi Benghazi along with a number of Benghazi militants and Ibrahim Jadhran intend to try and retake the eastern oilfields and terminals.
It was Ataiwish who helped ensure the Libyan National Army’s take-over of the terminals and fields in September when he called on member of the tribe, which is based around Ajdabiya and includes the Jadhran family, to avoid bloodshed and not fight it.
He had already expressed his support for the LNA and Khalifa Hafter.