Local Libyan mayor kidnapped by unidentified gunmen

An unknown armed group kidnapped the mayor of Aziziya city, some 30 km south of the Libyan capital Tripoli.

"An armed group kidnapped the mayor of Aziziya municipality, Jamal al-Taif, in front of his house in the town of Sa'diya in Warshaffana area and took him to an unknown location," the Social Council of Warshaffana said in a statement later on Saturday.

The statement pointed out that al-Taif had received several threatening texts on his cellphone before he was kidnapped.

Due to the rising levels of crime involving armed robbery and kidnapping in the area, forces of the Libyan UN-backed government launched a military operation later last year against criminal armed groups in Warshaffana.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)