General Yusuf al-Atrash, intelligence chief for Libya’s western city of al-Ujailat has been killed, sources told Al Arabiya News Channel late Sunday.
No-one has yet claimed responsibility for his death.
Meanwhile, Libya’s deputy intelligence chief Mustafa Nuh was also abducted in Tripoli, a security official told Agence France-Presse
Tensions ran high in the capital following deadly violence over the weekend.
“The vice president of intelligence was abducted shortly after his arrival in Tripoli from a trip abroad,” the official, who wished not to be named, told AFP.
Former rebel commander Ala Abu Hafess told the channel he was in a car with Nuh when armed men ambushed them as they were leaving the airport.
Libya’s weak central government has struggled to rein in former rebel brigades that helped end former leader Muammar Qaddafi’s 40-year rule but have since grown into increasingly threatening militias.
In October, Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was abducted for several hours by gunmen before being released unharmed.
A security chief claimed responsibility for the abduction and said he was “proud” of it.
Nuh’s and Atrash’s targeting came amid high tension in Tripoli where more than 40 people were killed and hundreds wounded when city residents rebelled against a militia.
The violence erupted on Friday when protesters, urged by local official to demonstrate peacefully against unruly militias, marched on the headquarters of a group from Misrata and were shot at from inside.
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