The head of the Libyan capital's now disbanded Supreme Security Committee survived a car bomb detonated outside his home before dawn on Friday.
Hashem Bashar, who now heads a committee tasked with integrating Tripoli's myriad of former rebel militias into the security forces, told AFP he was sure he was the target of the blast.
But he said he had no idea of the identity or motives of the bombers.
The explosion caused extensive damage to Bashar's home in the capital's Souk al-Jomaa shopping district as well as adjacent buildings, an AFP photographer reported.
Several neighbours suffered minor injuries.
The Supreme Security Committee was formed after rebel forces ousted now slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi from Tripoli in August 2011.
Nominally under the command of the interior ministry, its Islamist leanings put it increasingly at odds with other former rebel groups.
By the time of its dissolution last year, it was effectively just one of the multiple militias vying for control of the capital.
Bashar has since distanced himself from his Islamist former rebel comrades and urged them to integrate their fighters into the regular security forces.