Libya Army Colonel Escapes Assassination

A colonel in the restive Libyan city of Benghazi escaped a bomb attack on Tuesday after discovering the device placed under his car outside his home, a security official said.

Colonel Jelal al-Arafi discovered the device and immediately ran away from the vehicle when the bomb exploded,

“He was injured in the foot and underwent surgery at a hospital in Benghazi,” security spokesman Colonel Abdallah al-Zayedi said, adding that this was an “attempted assassination.”

Cradle of the 2011 uprising that ousted long-time dictator Moammar Gaddafi, Benghazi has been rocked by a series of killings of soldiers and police who served under the former regime.

The incident comes a day after a TV journalist survived an attack in Benghazi after coming under a hail of bullets.

In recent days, journalists have also come under attack.

Libya’s new authorities have struggled to re-establish order and form a professional army since Gaddafi’s overthrow and their efforts to woo militiamen to join the security forces have been scorned.