BENGHAZI  - Gunmen shot dead a Libyan army general in the eastern city of Benghazi on Friday, a security source said, the latest in a string of attacks in the cradle of last year's revolt.

Mohammed Hadiya Al-Feitouri was leaving a mosque after Friday prayers when he was hit by bullets fired from a car, the source said.

"He died soon after," the source said.

No further details were immediately available.

Feitouri had defected from former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime during last year's revolt and later became head of ammunition and armament for the army.

The shooting was one of a number of attacks in Benghazi, where local groups previously have staged protests demanding more powers for eastern Libya and objecting to what they say is the central authorities' neglect of the region.

A strong explosion rocked the Libyan military intelligence in Benghazi last week but caused no casualties.

Last Sunday, former military intelligence Colonel Suleiman Bouzrida was shot in the head twice while walking to a mosque for early morning prayers. He also had joined the rebels in the early stages of the revolution.