Armed men assassinate police chief in Libyan capital

The police chief of Libyan capital Tripoli was shot dead by masked gunmen amid clashes among militants over control of the international airport in the capital city.

According to the BBC, Col Muhammad Suwaysi was shot while leaving a meeting in Tajoura, a suburb in the east of the capital.

The interior ministry said that the unknown assailants also abducted two of his colleagues.

Interior ministry spokesman Rami Kaal said the police chief was on his way back from a meeting with local authorities in Tajoura when their vehicle was ambushed at a traffic light by two cars with armed men.

The men shot him in the head after he refused to get out of the car.

His colleagues, who complied with the orders to leave the car, were taken captive.

Libya has been in the midst of violence since the 2011 civil war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi after 42 years of his rule in the country.

Thousands have been forced to flee recent fighting in Tripoli.

The militias in Libya are now in control of large swaths of the country.