Salwa Bugaighis, a prominent Libyan activist who led the charge against Gadhafi in 2011, was assassinated in her Benghazi home Wednesday night after voting in parliament elections. Her husband has been missing since the killing, and police think he was abducted.

The Associated Press reports that Bugaighis was "shot in the head and stabbed multiple times." She died after being rushed to the hospital. The identities of the five gunmen who stormed her house are not yet known, but Islamic radical militias have been responsible for other recent assassinations in Libya.

Bugaighis often spoke out about Islamic extremists, and on the day of her murder, she spoke to a TV reporter about militant attacks on polling stations. "These are people who want to foil elections," she said. "Benghazi has been always defiant, and always will be despite the pain and fear. It will succeed."

Bugaighis had two children, who are reportedly safe in Jordan. U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice, who met Bugaighis in 2011, called the assassination "brutal and senseless."

[Image via AP]