Libya: warlord Mahmoud al-Werfalli assassinated in streets of Benghazi
Targeted by an ICC arrest warrant, Mahmoud Al-Werfalli (here in January 2017) has been arrested, the Libyan army said.
Abdullah DOMA / AFP
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A Libyan warlord, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), was shot dead on Wednesday March 24 in Benghazi, in the east of the country.
This is Mahmoud al-Werfalli, a member of the forces loyal to Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a strongman from eastern Libya and head of the Libyan national army.
Al-Werfalli was the subject of two ICC arrest warrants for war crimes.
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According to security sources,
Mahmoud al-Werfalli
was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while he was in his vehicle in central Benghazi.
Seriously injured, he was evacuated to Benghazi medical center, where he died.
Al-Werfalli was a commander in the Al-Saiqa Brigade, a special forces unit affiliated with Marshal Haftar's Libyan National Army.
Known for his summary executions of political prisoners, he was accused by the ICC of "war crimes", "torture", "cruel treatment", "crimes against humanity" for the murders of 33 people between June 2016 and July 2017 .
Mahmoud al-Werfalli was accused of having shot ten people in front of a mosque in Benghazi in January 2018. Abuses which did not prevent him from being promoted by
Marshal Haftar
, had deplored the general prosecutor of the CPI, Fatou Bensouda.
His murder comes amid growing tensions and rivalry between rival factions in eastern Libya.
In addition, two other Libyans are still being prosecuted by the ICC: Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of the ex-dictator Muammar Gadhafi, and whose fate is not known, and Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled, ex-chief of the Libyan Internal Security Agency, which allegedly tortured opponents of the Gaddafi regime.
Both are wanted for crimes against humanity.
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Libya
Khalifa Haftar
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