Libya PM’s convoy comes under ‘intensive gunfire’

Author: AFP

TRIPOLI: A convoy carrying Libya’s contested unity government chief, Fayezal Sarraj, and other top officials came under heavy gunfire on Monday in Tripoli.

“The convoy of GNA (Government of National Accord) chief Fayezal Sarraj came under fire as it passed near the Abu Slim sector of Tripoli,” said spokesman Ashrafal Thulthi.

“All the cars were plated with armour and there were no injuries,” he told AFP, adding an investigation was underway to identify the assailants.

Supreme state council spokesman Mohamed Salem said that its head, Abdel Rahmanal Swehli, was also in the convoy as well as presidential guards chief Najmial Nakou.

The convoy came under “intensive gunfire” in eastern Tripoli and two guards were wounded, according to Salem.

Libya has been submerged in chaos since the fall and slaying of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in a NATO-backed 2011 armed uprising.

Sarraj’s fragile GNA, formed under a UN-backed deal signed in late 2015, has struggled to impose its authority, particularly in eastern Libya where a rival administration holds sway.

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