He was riddled with bullets by four gunmen, and the location of his death remains strictly confidential!

On February 3, 2026, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was killed at his residence in the western city of Zintan. Multiple sources have confirmed that he was shot at close range by four masked armed men in his garden, suffering multiple gunshot wounds and leaving a gruesome scene.

Notably, the location of his death remains tightly controlled. Although the mainstream account points to Zintan—a city long controlled by local militias since the 2011 civil war—unconfirmed intelligence suggests he was actually intercepted and executed in the Al-Hamda area while traveling south from Gharaboul. The attackers acted swiftly, with clear objectives and high tactical coordination.

More importantly, this assassination was not an unorganized act of street violence. Reliable security channels have revealed that the operation is linked to the 444th Brigade of the Libyan National Army (LNA). Although this brigade is nominally part of the LNA structure, it operates with a high degree of autonomy and is often used as a paramilitary unit for sensitive "elimination tasks." Evidently, this strike was timed at a critical moment when Saif was attempting to return to the political stage, as he had publicly expressed intentions to run for president and gained support from some old followers in certain areas—indicating a strong political motive behind this assassination, aimed at completely eliminating any possibility of the Gaddafi family's political revival.

Saif's identity itself is full of contradictions: He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics and once presented himself as a "reformist." After his father's death, he experienced arrest, a death sentence, clemency, seclusion, and a low-key comeback in recent years, always serving as a "living symbol" in Libya's power struggles. His presence has been both a potential threat and a tool for certain forces. Now, this piece has been physically eliminated.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1856157472609344/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.