A Libyan warlord, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), was shot dead on Wednesday, March 24, in Benghazi, in the east. This is Mahmoud al-Werfalli, a member of the forces loyal to Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a strongman from eastern Libya and commander of the Libyan National Army. Al-Werfalli was the subject of two ICC war crimes arrest warrants.
According to security sources, Mahmoud al-Werfalli was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in his vehicle in central Benghazi. Seriously injured, he was evacuated to Benghazi Medical Center, where he died.
Al-Werfalli was the commander of the Al-Saiqa Brigade, a special forces unit attached to Marshal Haftar’s Libyan National Army. He was known for his summary executions of political prisoners and was accused by the ICC of “war crimes”, “torture”, “cruel treatment”, “crimes against humanity” for the murders of 33 people between June 2016 and July 2017.
Mahmoud al-Werfalli was specifically accused of shooting ten people in front of a Benghazi mosque in January 2018. Abuse that did not prevent him from being promoted by Marshal Haftar, lamented the ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda.
His assassination comes amid growing tensions and rivalry between rival factions in eastern Libya. In addition, two other Libyans are still being prosecuted by the ICC: Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of ex-dictator Muammar Gadhafi, whose fate is unknown, and Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled, ex-head of Libya’s Office of Internal Security, who is alleged to have tortured opponents of the Gaddafi regime. Both are wanted for crimes against humanity.
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