Anti-corruption activist Mohamed Bughaighis was killed today in Benghazi’s Kish district when a vehicle exploded. Contrary to initial reports, he was not in the vehicle was standing next to it. Three others, two Libyans (one of them an airforce officer) and a Bangladeshi, died in the incident and 21 were injured. The wounded were taken to Benghazi Medical Centre.People at the nearby popular Kish Café say that the car blew up in what appeared to be the result of a bomb. However, according to officials, it was hit by a rocket. They say it is unclear if he was deliberately targeted or the victim of a random rocket attack.
“They are afraid that Benghazi could be returning to the assassinations of two years ago,” one local political analyst suggested.
Before Khalifa Hafter’s Operation Dignity was launched in Benghazi political assassinations seen as carried out by Islamists were a regular event. There have been predications in recent weeks that there could be a resurgence of these as the so-called Islamic State and other Islamist militants are defeated on the ground.
As head of an independent anti-corruption organisation, Mohamed Bughaighis was not without enemies. In June 2014, his house was targeted by militants but he was not at home at the time.
His family have been prominent human rights campaigners. His relative Salwa Bughaighis was assassinated two years ago after voting in elections for the House of Representatives. Her sister, Iman, still campaigns for human rights.