The armed forces of Libya’s recognized government warned Wednesday they would react to any aggression against the state, a day after the prime minister escaped an assassination attempt.
“The forces of the national army and the security services affirm their support for the legal government and commit to protecting it against any obstacles or aggression hampering its work,” a statement on the government’s news agency said.
It came after Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani escaped unscathed when would-be assassins opened fire on his car Tuesday after a session of parliament in the eastern city of Tobruk.
“Any aggression against the seat of government and sovereign state institutions will be followed by a state response using its strength and legality, with force and firmness,” the statement said.
Thani’s spokesman said after his car was hit by bullets, wounding a bodyguard, that it had been an attempt to kill the premier.
“It was an assassination attempt, and the prime minister survived it,” Hatem al-Ouraybi told AFP.
The parliament recognized by the international community has been based in Tobruk near the border with Egypt since the Libya Dawn militia coalition seized the capital last August.
The elected government is also based in the east.
Tripoli hosts a rival government and parliament that is close to Libya Dawn.
The shooting came after a meeting of parliament at its Tobruk headquarters. Parliament spokesman Faraj Abu Hashem said gunmen had tried to storm the building but were driven back.
“The parliament was questioning the government work in a session today, when we heard gunshots outside,” he said over the phone.
“Members of the government and the prime minister left immediately as gunmen tried to storm the parliament ... but forces prevented them from entering.”
Elsewhere, spokesman for the western city of Misrata’s city council, Taher al-Zaroug, said a North Korean couple has been abducted near the stronghold of the country’s ISIS affiliate.
The couple, both doctors, was traveling from the oasis of Zallah in central Libya, where they worked for a local hospital for many years.
The spokesman said they were seized Friday near the coastline city of Sirte, where ISIS has gained a foothold amid Libya’s chaos in the past months.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency has not reported on the abduction.
The Libyan affiliate of ISIS has captured and beheaded dozens of Christian laborers and migrants in recent months, including Egyptians and Ethiopians.
