Official: Mayor of Libyan city of Misrata killed by gunmen

BENGHAZI, Libya – A Libyan official says gunmen abducted and killed the mayor of the coastal city of Misrata soon after his return from a visit to Turkey.

Khaled Rofida, the spokesman of the Misrata municipal council, says the mayor, Mohammed Eshtewi, was snatched as he was leaving Misrata’s airport after landing there late on Sunday.

The spokesman says Eshtewi’s body was found several hours later, near a hospital.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing from any of the active armed groups in the area.

Libya sank into chaos following the 2011 uprising that toppled and later killed dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The country is currently split between rival parliaments and governments in the east and west, each backed by a set of militias, tribes and political factions.