Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has reportedly been killed in Libya. The incident occurred in the western city of Zintan, where he had resided for the past decade.

The killing was confirmed by his political adviser, Abdullah Othman, though the exact circumstances remain unclear. Khaled al-Mishri, former head of the Tripoli-based High State Council—an internationally recognized government body—has called for an “urgent and transparent investigation” into the matter.

Gaddafi never held an official position in Libya but was considered his father’s number two from 2000 until 2011, when Muammar Gaddafi was killed by Libyan opposition forces. After his father’s death, Gaddafi was captured and imprisoned in Zintan in 2011 following an attempt to flee the country. He was released in 2017 as part of a general pardon.

Gaddafi unsuccessfully sought Libya’s presidency after his father’s death. His cousin Hamid Gaddafi stated he had “fallen as a martyr.” His last spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, posted on social media: “They killed him treacherously. He wanted a united, sovereign Libya, safe for all its people.” Ibrahim also reported that he spoke with Gaddafi two days prior to the killing about “a peaceful Libya and the safety of its people.”

Born in June 1972 in Tripoli, Saif al-Islam studied for a PhD at the London School of Economics and was regarded as the reformist face of his father’s regime.

Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for over four decades, was toppled by a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 and killed in October that year amid civil conflict. The country has since descended into chaos, divided between rival armed groups and militias.