TRIPOLI: Libyan officials say unknown gunmen shot and killed an army colonel in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.

A security official said artillery officer Col. Said Massoud Al-Jamli was shot near a school on Sunday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters, said the gunmen fled.

Al-Galaa hospital spokeswoman Fadia Al-Barghathi said Al-Jamli received three bullets to the head, and was dead upon arrival to the hospital.

Benghazi, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising, is a stronghold of militias who fought against longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi.

Authorities blame many such killings on militias resisting state authority and radicals seeking revenge on Qaddafi-era officials.