A police officer was killed in an “attempted assault” on the office of Libya’s internationally recognized premier, the government said Friday, as protesters took to the streets to demand his ouster.
The officer was “targeted while securing the prime minister’s office building,” the Government of National Unity said in a statement.
“He was shot by unknown attackers and succumbed to his injuries,” the statement said.
The government said it had “foiled an attempt to storm the building by a group mixed with protesters” who tried to set it on fire with Molotov cocktails.
Video footage that has not been verified by AFP showed young people running and taking cover behind a low wall near the government headquarters to the sound of automatic gunfire.
Earlier Friday, thousands of protesters had gathered at Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.
The demonstrators were chanting slogans such as “The nation wants to topple the government” and “We want elections.”
They then marched to the main government building in the city center. “We won’t leave until he leaves,” one protester said.
The marchers carried pictures of Dbeibah, national security adviser Ibrahim Dbeibah and Interior Minister Emad Tarbulsi with their faces crossed out in red.
Ahead of the demonstration, the UN Support Mission in Libya, UNSMIL, had underlined “citizens’ right to peaceful protest” and warned against “any escalation of violence.”
Dbeibah, who leads the divided country’s Government of National Unity, came to power through a UN-backed process in 2021. Planned elections failed to proceed that year because of disagreements among rival factions, and he has remained in power.
Calls for Dbeibah to resign increased after two rival armed groups clashed in the capital this week in the heaviest fighting in years. Eight civilians were killed, according to the United Nations.
Violence flared after the prime minister on Tuesday ordered the armed groups to be dismantled. Demonstrators have accused Dbeibah of failing to restore stability and of being complicit in the growing power of armed groups.
After the demonstration, local media reported the resignation of six ministers and deputy ministers from the government, two of whom confirmed their departure in a video.
Those who resigned were Economy and Trade Minister Mohamed Al-Hawij, Local Government Minister Badr Eddin Al-Tumi and Minister of Housing Abu Bakr Al-Ghawi.
Militia leader Abdulghani Kikli, widely known as Ghaniwa, died in the clashes, which calmed on Wednesday after the government announced a ceasefire.
Libya is split between the UN-recognized government in Tripoli, led by Dbeibah, and a rival administration in the east controlled by the family of military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
The country has remained deeply divided since the 2011 NATO-backed revolt that toppled and killed longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi.
