The powerful Interior Minister of Libya’s unity government survived an assassination attempt on Sunday on a highway near the capital Tripoli, an official said.
Fathi Bashagha’s convoy “was fired on from an armoured car while he was on the highway. His police escort returned fire. Two of the assailants were arrested and a third is in hospital,” the source said, adding that “the Minister is fine”.
Mr. Bashagha, a heavyweight in Libyan politics, was returning from a routine visit to a new security unit overseen by his department, the same source said.
The 58-year-old has served as Interior Minister in the North African country’s UN-recognised Government of National Accord since 2018 .
Libya has been riven by violence since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
