The Government of National Unity claimed in a statement that Adel Juma, Libya’s minister for cabinet affairs, was injured in an attempted assassination in the country’s capital, Tripoli, on Wednesday.
The Tripoli-based, UN-recognised GNU denounced the assault and reported that Juma was “in stable condition” following “shots were fired at his car” by an unidentified attacker.
It stated that it “will not tolerate any attempts that threaten the security and stability of the state” and that a probe had been launched “to track down the perpetrators.”
Juma was shot in the leg, according to reports.
Since March 2021, Juma has been in charge of coordinating the Tripoli-based government’s various ministries with Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah’s office.
He is regarded as a close advisor to Dbeibah.
After long-time tyrant Moamer Kadhafi was overthrown in an uprising supported by NATO in 2011, Libya has been struggling to recover from years of conflict.
It is still divided between a competing government in the east supported by Khalifa Haftar, a military leader, and the GNU of Dbeibah in the west.
Ibrahim Dbeibah, Dbeibah’s nephew and advisor, had his home and office attacked in Tripoli in April of last year, although no one was hurt.
Additionally, in 2021, Fathi Bashagha, the interior minister of the then-Government of National Accord (GNA), escaped a murder attempt on a highway near Tripoli.
