Refugee exodus continues in Libya following rebel chief's killing

Tripoli, July 29 (ANI): Abdel Fattah Younes, Muammar Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's former security minister who defected to the opposition Transitional National Council (TNC) and became its military leader in February, has been shot dead by assailants after being summoned back from the battlefield, opposition leader Moustafa Abdel-Jalil has said.

The humanitarian situation in the country is reported to have worsened with a new wave of refugee exodus.

A three-day mourning was planned for Younes in the rebels' stronghold of Benghazi.

The death was announced as the rebel forces launched a broader assault on government forces Thursday, seizing three small towns in western Libya while advancing toward the town of Badr and two other areas, Xinhua reports.

Abdel-Jalil described Younis as "one of the heroes of the 17th of February revolution," a name marking the date of early protests against Gaddafi's government. (ANI)