Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of Libya’s former leader Muammar Gaddafi, was reportedly killed in Libya in early February 2026, according to multiple international media outlets citing family members, legal representatives, and local sources.
Reports indicate that armed men entered a residence in the western Libyan city of Zintan, where Saif al-Islam had been staying, and fatally shot him. The attackers reportedly fled the scene, and their identities and motives remain unclear. Libyan authorities have launched an investigation, though no official statement detailing the circumstances has yet been issued.
Saif al-Islam had been a controversial figure since the 2011 uprising that ended his father’s rule. Once seen as a potential reformist, he later became a symbol of the old regime and faced accusations of war crimes, including an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. In recent years, he had attempted a political comeback, including a bid to run in Libya’s stalled presidential elections.
The incident underscores Libya’s continued instability and unresolved political divisions more than a decade after the fall of the Gaddafi government.
