Libyan minister survives assassination

Adel Juma, Libya’s cabinet affairs minister was shot in the leg on February 12th in an assassination attempt, according to the Daily Sabah.

In the attack, “shots were fired at his car,” according to the Government of National Unity (GNU). The Tripoli-based GNU is United Nations-recognised and controls the west of Libya.

The GNU also said that Juma is in “stable condition” and assured the public that an investigation has been opened to find the perpetrators.

According to Al Jazeera, a ceasefire was signed in 2020 by the country’s warring parties. But political divisions meant that two seperate governments were created in Libya. The two governments are the national unity government and its opposition, the Benghazi-based Government of National Stability.

Following the uprising that led to the fall from power and subsequent killing of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country reportedly reached a state of chaos.

For the majority of the past ten years, the country has been ruled by rival governments in the east and the west of Libya. The governments have been backed by various fighter groups.

The attack on Juma is not the first attack on someone close to Libyan Prime Minister Ddeibah in recent years, as Juma is regarded to be one of the prime minister’s closest advisors.

In April 2024, the home of Ddeibah’s nephew, Ibrahim Dbeibah- who is also an advisor to the prime minister– was targeted by an attack. The interior minister, Fathi Bashagha, of the then Government of National Accord (GNA) survived an assassination attempt in a Tripoli highway.

Daily Sabah, Al Jazeera