Two Libyans were killed, and dozens injured on Thursday after a shooting took place inside the National Commercial Bank’s (NCB) branch in Sebha.
According to media reports, the two deceased were Salem Mohamed Abu Bakr Saeed Al-Maghrabi, and Mohamed Al-Bast.
They added that masked gunmen attempted to storm the bank. Guards exchanged fire with the assailants, whose identities remain unknown, forcing them to flee the scene. The incident represents the latest in a series of recent armed robberies targeting banks in Libya.
Libya’s transitional authority has remained silent about the recent military developments that have taken place in the country. The latest of which included the storming of the Ministry of Sports, an attack on the house of a military commander, and several assassination attempts.
Notably, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has documented a number of cases of armed attacks, enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings of civilians, officials, journalists, civil society members, and human rights activists in Tripoli during the past year.
“Under international human rights law, no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained. Torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings are strictly prohibited as are abductions and kidnappings,” said Jan Kubis, former Head of UNSMIL.
“The Mission calls on the Libyan authorities to fully investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Libya must end the entrenched culture of impunity in the country”, stressed Kubis.
Libya has sought to emerge from a decade of chaos since the 2011 fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.
Notably, the country is currently facing a political crisis after the Libyan Parliament swore in former Interior Minister, Fathi Bashagha, to lead a new interim government in February. MP’s argued that incumbent Prime Minister, Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba’s mandate expired when elections failed to take place in December.