BENGHAZI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th March, 2021) The Libyan National Army (LNA) confirmed on Wednesday that Mahmoud al-Werfalli, an eastern Libyan officer wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, was killed by a group of unknown gunmen in Benghazi.
Al-Werfalli was twice indicted by the court in the Hague for the suspected killing of over 40 captives while serving as commander of special forces unit under Khalifa Haftar's LNA.
A source in the LNA special forces told Sputnik that the commander's car came under heavy fire from a group of unidentified armed men in Benghazi. After the assassination attempt, Al-Werfalli was taken to the hospital, where he died from his wounds.
"We confirm the murder of one of the heroes of special forces, lieutenant colonel Mahmoud al-Werfalli," the LNA's moral guidance department stated.
Mahmoud al-Werfalli first served under the assassinated Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as commander of an elite Al-Saiqa Brigade. At the outbreak of the Libyan crisis, he joined the forces of Khalifa Haftar. In 2017 and 2018, the ICC issued two arrest warrants for al-Werfalli, accusing him of killing prisoners and unarmed people.
The killing of al-Werfalli will prove to be the first major challenge for the newly formed Government of National Unity (GNU), approved by the Libyan parliament only last week. The GNU has taken over from the two rival administrations in east and west that have run Libya for years, as part of a UN-brokered peace effort.
