Gunmen kill Libyan journalist in restive Benghazi

Tripoli, Libya: A Libyan security official says gunmen have shot dead a journalist who was an outspoken critic of Islamists in the country’s volatile east.

The official said Moftah Abu Zeid, chief editor of the Brnieq newspaper, was attacked Monday while driving his car down a main street in the eastern city of Benghazi, cradle of the 2011 revolt that toppled and killed longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.

The city has since seen near-daily attacks mainly targeting security forces.

Abu Zeid’s newspaper last week carried a front page picture of a renegade general leading an offensive against Islamic militants in the city. Islamists call Gen. Khalifa Haftar’s offensive a “coup.”

The official said the assailants fled the scene.