20111211
Press TV
The head of the Libyan Army has survived an assassination attempt after unknown gunmen ambushed his convoy in a broad daylight attack in the country's capital Tripoli.

Libya' military spokesman, Sgt. Abdel-Razik el-Shibahy, said that the violence began on Saturday morning, when a group of armed men at a mock checkpoint tried to stop Khalifa Hifter's convoy as it moved from his home in Tripoli to the military headquarters, the Associated Press reported.

However, the convoy swerved from the checkpoint and drove over a nearby bridge. Two unidentified assailants positioned on the other side then opened fire.

El-Shibahy noted that no one in the convoy was harmed and soldiers arrested the two gunmen.

Minutes later, a second army convoy heading down the same road came under attack.

Meanwhile, gunmen shot at soldiers stationed inside the Katiba Hamza military base near the road leading to Tripoli's airport.

Gun battles between armed men and Libyan Army soldiers raged by nightfall and the army also shelled the gunmen's positions.

The violence came less than two months after former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed in the northern city of Sirte, eight months into a revolution that put an end to his 42-year-long rule.