Gunmen kidnap police chief in Libya

Unidentified gunmen have abducted the head of the Criminal Investigation Department in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

Captain Abdelsalam al-Mahdawi was kidnapped at gunpoint on his way to work late on Wednesday night, Reuters cited an anonymous police official as saying on Thursday.

Following the abduction, Libyan Interior Minister Ashour Shwayel issued a statement vowing to find “the officer and determine the identity of the perpetrators.”

Benghazi has been the scene of several explosions and a wave of attacks targeting police and military forces in recent weeks.

On December 31, a bomb has exploded outside the headquarters of the public prosecutor in the same city, inflicting damage to the building.

On December 21, four people, including two police officers, were killed and ten others were wounded in clashes between Libyan security forces and armed protesters.

Five days earlier, four policemen were shot dead in the city when unknown attackers fired a rocket-propelled grenade on a police compound.

On November 20, Benghazi police chief Faraj al-Dursi was shot dead by unidentified gunmen outside his home.

Four Americans, including US ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, were killed in an attack on the US consulate in Benghazi on September 11.