TRIPOLI — Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the most prominent son of Libya’s late dictator Muammar Gaddafi, has been killed in an attack on his residence in the western town of Zintan, his political team and multiple Libyan sources confirmed on Tuesday.
The 53-year-old was shot dead by four masked gunmen who stormed his home, disabled security cameras, and engaged him in a direct confrontation before fleeing the scene, according to a statement from his political office and accounts provided by his lawyer, Khaled al-Zaidi, and political adviser, Abdulla Othman.
Othman announced the death on Facebook, describing the incident as a “cowardly and treacherous assassination.” Al-Zaidi and other aides echoed the claim, stating that Gaddafi confronted the assailants despite the attackers’ efforts to cover their tracks.
The town of Zintan, about 136 kilometers (85 miles) southwest of Tripoli, has been Gaddafi’s base since his release from militia detention in 2017 under a general amnesty. He had lived there in relative seclusion to avoid threats following years of imprisonment after the 2011 uprising.
Khaled al-Mishri, a former head of the High State Council in Tripoli, called for an immediate and transparent investigation into the killing.
No group has claimed responsibility, and Libyan authorities have not yet issued an official confirmation or comment on the perpetrators. Security sources in western Libya told media outlets that the circumstances remain unclear.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was widely regarded as his father’s heir apparent and de facto second-in-command before the 2011 Arab Spring revolt that toppled the regime. Although he held no formal government post, he played a key public role during the uprising, issuing defiant warnings that the government would fight “to the last man, woman, and bullet” and that “rivers of blood” would flow if protests continued.
He faced an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for crimes against humanity related to the violent suppression of demonstrations. In 2015, a Tripoli court sentenced him to death in absentia for similar charges. Captured by rebels in late 2011 while fleeing toward Niger, he was held by the Zintan-based Abu Bakr Sadik Brigade until his release.
After emerging from detention, Gaddafi briefly attempted a political comeback, registering as a presidential candidate in 2021, though elections never took place. He largely stayed out of the public eye in recent years amid Libya’s ongoing instability and factional divisions.
The killing marks a dramatic end to the Gaddafi family’s lingering political shadow more than 14 years after Muammar Gaddafi’s own death at the hands of rebel fighters in Sirte in October 2011.
