Intelligence chief of Libya’s Benghazi-based forces killed in car bombing

Fawzi al-Mansouri, head of military intelligence for Libya’s eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), has been killed in a car bombing in Benghazi, in a major security setback for Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s forces and a potential blow to US-backed efforts to reunify Libya’s rival governments.

Authorities said al-Mansouri was assassinated on the night of August 10 when an explosive attached to his vehicle detonated as he was leaving a mosque, Caliber.Az reports, citing Euronews.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Al-Mansouri was a senior member of the LNA’s intelligence structure and maintained close links to the Haftar family. He was involved in the LNA’s campaign against jihadist groups, including the so-called Islamic State group (IS), in eastern Libya between 2014 and 2017.

The LNA described him as a “heroic martyr”. He also played a prominent role in Haftar’s 2019 offensive to capture Tripoli, which received backing from Russia and Egypt. The assault was eventually repelled by forces loyal to the Tripoli-based government, with military support from Türkiye.

Khaled Haftar, Khalifa Haftar’s son and the LNA’s chief of general staff, said an investigation had been launched into the killing, adding that “indicators point to a despicable terrorist tactic”.

“Terrorism is a project targeting the entire region, not just Libya,” he noted.

The bombing has undermined efforts by the Haftar family to project an image of security and stability across territory under their control.

The identity of those behind the attack remains unknown.

Libya has remained divided between rival administrations since NATO-backed forces overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The country currently has two competing governments: the UN-recognised administration in Tripoli, headed by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah, and a rival administration in Benghazi backed by Khalifa Haftar, who is widely regarded as the de facto ruler of eastern Libya.

Dbeibah has led the Tripoli administration since 2021 after a UN-backed political agreement. However, his government has never received a new electoral mandate because elections scheduled for December 2021 were cancelled following disputes over candidate eligibility and the legal framework for the vote.

His administration has also faced continuing domestic pressure, including protests in Tripoli earlier this year over power cuts.

Haftar, a former general under Gaddafi who defected and spent nearly two decades in the United States before returning to Libya after the 2011 uprising, built the LNA into the dominant military force across much of the east and south.

The Tripoli government condemned the killing of al-Mansouri as a “terrorist attack”, saying it rejected the assassination “regardless of one party's positions or alliances”.

Khaled Haftar’s office later announced that security forces had detained a “terrorist cell in Benghazi that was preparing to carry out acts of sabotage”. It did not say whether the suspects were connected to al-Mansouri’s assassination.

Al-Mansouri’s funeral was held in Benghazi on Tuesday afternoon. Photographs released from the ceremony showed armed men in military uniforms alongside senior LNA officials, including Khaled and Saddam Haftar.

The LNA said it would “not cease fighting terrorism and will continue our struggle for the stability and security of Libya, as well as for the unification of its institutions”.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov