From Jamestown Terrorism Monitor:
"Though incidents of urban
violence continue in a number of Libyan cities, it is the former rebel
capital of Benghazi where such attacks have been most intense. Bombings
are common, with the central intelligence headquarters in Benghazi being
a favorite target. An August 1 blast that caused damage but no
casualties was only the latest in a string of attacks on the facility
this year (Reuters, August 3). The carnage would be even greater if a
large number of powerful bombs had not been discovered and disarmed by
security officials in the last week. Many of the bombs carried a charge
of 40 kilograms and have been found in places such as a school, the
Criminal Investigation Department, the National Security Patrols
Department and under a bridge leading to the Tibesti Hotel (Tunisa Live,
August 7). Three armed men suspected of responsibility in a string of
failed bombings in Benghazi were killed by security forces in a
gun-battle that wounded five members of the Interior Ministry on August 5
(AFP, August 6; Reuters, August 8). Before stepping down when the new
General National Congress took over from the Transitional National
Council on August 8, interim Prime Minister Abd al-Rahim al-Keib said
that the bombings were the work of Qaddafi loyalists and claimed that
one such cell was discovered that was “presided over by persons abroad”
(Sky News Arabia, August 6).
Assassinations have also
become commonplace in Libya as the armed groups controlling the Libyan
streets eliminate rivals and dispose of challenges to their influence.
Some of these attacks seem to be a settling of accounts for grudges
nursed since the Qaddafi era, particularly against those who were part
of the security structure. One such assassination was that of Colonel
Sulayman Bouzridah, a former official in Qaddafi’s central intelligence
office who was killed in Benghazi on July 28 despite having joined the
rebels during the revolution (Tunisia Live, August 7). Bouzridah was the
thirteenth Qaddafi-era security official to be murdered in Benghazi in
the past few weeks. Rumors circulate that the murders are being carried
out by an unknown group with a death-list of 106 individuals (Libya
Herald, July 31).
On July 29, gunmen attacked a
convoy escorting Soviet-trained and CIA-supported Major-General Khalifa
Haftar, who was nearly killed in a firefight with the Zintan militia at
Tripoli Airport in December, 2011. [1] Hafter, who was unhurt, blamed
pro-Qaddafi groups for the attack, which occurred shortly after the
General had urged Benghazi’s rogue militias to cooperate more closely
with the new National Army (Libya Herald, July 31; Magharebia, August
2)." (thanks Tom)
