A car bomb assassinated Fawzi al-Mansouri, the Libyan National Army's (LNA) military intelligence chief, in Benghazi on Monday night, Libya's eastern-based army confirmed Tuesday — a killing that strikes at the security credentials of Khalifa Haftar's stronghold just as a Washington-mediated reunification plan hangs in the balance.
Al-Mansouri was leaving a local mosque when an explosive device attached to his vehicle detonated, according to the LNA's statement. He was a longtime figure in Haftar's inner circle, having led the fight against jihadist groups, including the Islamic State, in eastern Libya between 2014 and 2017, and later serving as a key commander in Haftar's Russia-backed 2019 offensive to seize Tripoli — an operation ultimately repelled by Turkey-backed forces defending the capital.
No group has claimed responsibility, and authorities have not identified a perpetrator. Khaled Haftar, son of Khalifa Haftar, told AFP that an investigation had been opened, saying:
> "Indicators point to a despicable terrorist tactic. Terrorism is a project targeting the entire region, not just Libya."
The LNA vowed in a statement that it would "not cease fighting terrorism and will continue our struggle for the stability and security of Libya, as well as for the unification of its institutions," and described al-Mansouri as a "heroic martyr." His funeral was held Tuesday afternoon in Benghazi, attended by senior LNA officials including Khaled and Saddam Haftar, the commander's son and presumed heir.
The Tripoli-based government, the LNA's rival in Libya's east-west split, condemned the killing as a "terrorist attack," adding that it did so "regardless of one party's positions or alliances." Separately, Khaled Haftar's office said Benghazi authorities had arrested a "terrorist cell in Benghazi that was preparing to carry out acts of sabotage," though it did not say whether the cell was linked to al-Mansouri's death.
Analysts say the killing exposes a deeper vulnerability. Hamish Kinnear of Verisk Maplecroft told AFP:
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> "An attack of this sophistication in an LNA stronghold is also a major blow to the group's security credentials. The intelligence required to target such a high-profile figure successfully is indicative of significant capabilities on the part of the responsible actor."
Kinnear added that the timing threatens the fragile US-brokered roadmap to unify Libya's rival administrations: "None of this bodes well for a US plan to re-unify Libya." He warned that under the plan, neither side is likely to remain satisfied with its current position for long, raising the risk that "a new, destabilising power struggle could soon emerge."
Libya expert Jalel Harchaoui went further, arguing the assassination undercuts the foundational logic of the reunification effort itself:
> "The agreement rests on two premises: that security reigns supreme in Benghazi, and that for senior officers, loyalty to Saddam (Haftar's son and heir apparent) guarantees protection in the Benghazi stronghold. But a bomb that kills the head of military intelligence as he leaves a mosque undermines these premises."
Harchaoui said the killing would "disrupt, or at the very least delay" the deal, and that any path forward would "require some gestures of openness toward reform and change within the army."
Libya has remained fractured since the 2011 ousting of Muammar Gaddafi, split between the UN-recognised government of Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah in Tripoli and Haftar's LNA administration in Benghazi. Chad, which shares a southern border with Libya, said separately this week that cooperation with Haftar's forces had improved security along that frontier — a claim offered without elaboration or named officials, and one that speaks to localized cooperation rather than any resolution of the wider instability now radiating from Benghazi. That contrast is instructive: even as Haftar's forces point to gains on Libya's southern periphery, they could not prevent a bomb from reaching their own intelligence chief inside their own stronghold, exposing a gap between claimed territorial control and the internal security that the Washington-mediated reunification plan depends on holding.