The former senior leader at the self-styled army of warlord Khalifa Haftar, Salah Bulaghib, was shot Sunday in his belly and then he was transferred to the hospital's intensive care unit.

Reasons for the shooting of Bulaghib, a former leader at the security backup brigade of Haftar's forces, are still contradictory.

"It was an assassination attempt for political reasons. Haftar's loyalist gunmen did it as he publicly supported the deputy interior minister of the Tripoli government Faraj Egaiem who is now detained in a Haftar-commanded prison." Sources explained.

They added that the gunmen entered into a brawl with Bulaghib saying they own a land in Fuwaiha in downtown Benghazi, which is now being used by Bulaghib, thus leading to gunfire directed at him and his companions.

Meanwhile, other sources denied any links for the incident with the political conflicts, adding that it was all a brawl.

Besides Bulaghib, other injured persons arrived at Al-Jalaa Hospital in Benghazi, local media reported, adding that Bulaghib underwent a surgery at the hospital.

Bulaghib used to command the security backup brigade that is loyal to Haftar's forces and fought for Dignity Operation in Benghazi, but last November, he disbanded the brigade and handed over the weapons to Haftar.

The handover was done after the detention of Faraj Egaiem in an attack by Haftar's forces in last November, when they controlled all Egaiem's headquarters and Bersis checkpoint in eastern Benghazi.