TRIPOLI – Another senior military official who served in the Gaddafi regime has been murdered in Benghazi. Colonel Badr Khamis Al-Obedi was assassinated by unknown gunmen Monday as he left the city's Saida Aisha mosque after prayers. A commander at the air defense base in Benghazi, Obeidi was shot several times in the chest and head from a semi-automatic rifle in a “drive-by” attack. He was immediately taken to the intensive care unit at Hawari hospital but died a few hours later. Witnesses say that there were three people in the car from which the shots came, a white Hyundai Elantra. This is at least the 14th assassination so far this year of current and former military officers. Earlier last month, Brigadier-General Mohammed Al-Fitouri was gunned down as he too left afternoon prayers in Benghazi. It is the 15th if the death of Colonel Juma Al-Kadiki earlier this month is included. He died instantly when explosives went off in his car. However, it is thought that it may have been an accident. A drive-by shooting of the victim as he leaves a mosque after prayers, seems to have become the killers' prime method of operation. – Libya Herald
