Gunmen released a reporter for Libya's state media Tuesday, a day after abducting him in the capital in the latest attack on journalists in the North African country, his employer said.

Since the overthrow and killing of veteran dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, the government has struggled to restore order and the media has come under mounting threat from former rebel militia.

State news agency LANA said its reporter Younes Ali Younes was "in good health and on his way home."

The news agency said it still had no word on the identity or motives of his kidnappers.

Younes was snatched by five gunmen in military garb near a Tripoli cafe on Monday night and driven to an unknown destination, LANA director Abdelbasset Boudiya told AFP earlier.

Boudiya condemned the kidnapping as well as other threats against LANA journalists.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has repeatedly warned of the threat posed to journalists by former rebel militias that helped topple the Kadhafi regime.

Last week, gunmen attacked studios in Libya's restive second city Benghazi of two privately-run television channels.

In December, the owner of a private radio station was murdered in Tripoli.