TRIPOLI, Dec. 1 -- A Libyan air force officer was shot dead in the eastern city of Benghazi on Sunday, local security sources told Xinhua.

Salah Idriss, who worked at Benina Air Defense Base, was shot dead on Sunday morning in front of his young son.

Ibrahim Shara, the spokesperson of the Joint Operation Security Room in Benghazi, told Xinhua that "unidentified gunmen fired a barrage of bullets at Idriss in Benghazi's Sabri district, immediately killing him and wounding his son."

He added that the military in the area came under attack as Idriss was driving his son to the school.

Spokesperson for Jalaa Hospital in Beghazi Fadia al-Barghati told Xinhua that Idriss, 42, arrived dead at the hospital with three bullets lodged in heart, while his 17-year-old son underwent surgery for his injured hand.

Violence has been escalating in Benghazi since Monday, after heavy clashes between the Salafi militia Ansar al-Sahria and the Libyan special forces army resulted in the death of nine people and the injury of 50 others. After 42 hours, the Salafi militia fled the area and their local bases were destroyed by the local residents supporting the national army.

Since then, 10 members of the Libyan army have been killed in separate attacks in the Libyan eastern region of Cyreanaica. In particular, Benghazi, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising, witnessed the formation of Islamic fundamentalist militias who used to fight against the former administration but now clash with the current national security forces. Ansar al-Sahria is suspected to be the responsible behind the attack on the American embassy in September 2012, where the Ambassador Chris Stevens died.

The far eastern city of Derna, 1,300 km east of the capital of Tripoli and 300 km east of Benghazi, is considered to be the cradle of the al-Qaida affiliated movement in the North Africa country. Last week, murders by unidentified gunmen took place in Benghazi as well as in Derna.