Suicide bombing ‘escalates’ Libya violence, oil output slips

At least four soldiers killed

BENGHAZI, Libya, July 23, (RTRS): A twin suicide bombing at a Libyan army base in Benghazi killed at least four solders in an escalation of clashes between Islamist militants and regular forces battling to oust them from the eastern city.

A first attacker blew himself up at the entrance to Benghazi’s special forces headquarters, allowing a second suicide bomber to detonate his explosives at the base and kill at least four troops, a security source said.

Suicide bombings are rare in Libya, where a fragile government is struggling to impose order. Tripoli and Benghazi are now caught up in some of the fiercest fighting between rival armed groups since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

In another blow to the government, Libya’s oil production has fallen, turning back a hard-won increase since April in revenue for the state just as it faces increased fighting around the airport in the capital and across Benghazi. More than 40 people have died in a week of fierce clashes at Tripoli airport involving artillery, Grad rockets and anti-aircraft guns.

Fresh fighting broke out overnight on Monday in Tripoli and also Benghazi. In the eastern city, armed regular forces and troops loyal to a renegade former army general are battling Islamist militants who have entrenched themselves there.

Beyond the suicide blast, there were no immediate reports on casualties from Monday’s fighting in Benghazi or the Qasr Ben Ghashir neighbourhood near Tripoli airport where residents have been forced from their homes or trapped by the gun battles.

“There are a lot of families still stuck and not able to get out because of the intensity of the shelling and bombing, which is with all kinds of heavy weapons,” said local area mayor Mohammad Abdullah.

The clashes have prompted the United Nations to pull its staff out of Libya, stopped most international flights and damaged more than a dozen planes parked at the airport.

One local airline’s Airbus jet billowed black smoke after being hit on Monday.

The airport clash reflects national divisions between two increasingly polarised factions whose battle is shaping the future of Libya’s transition since the 2011 revolution ended four decades of Gaddafi’s one-man rule.

One side is grouped around the western town of Zintan and their allies who are loosely tied to the National Forces Alliance political movement.

The other faction centres on the more Islamist-leaning Misrata brigades and allied militias who side with Justice and Construction Party, a wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry warned its citizens on Tuesday not to travel to Libya after 22 Egyptian soldiers were killed by gunmen near the border on Saturday. Travelers queue at Tripoli’s Mitiga airport late on July 22 after clashes between rival militias closed down Tripoli international airport. The fighting has halted all flights and caused extensive damage to planes and airport infrastructure, with

aviation officials saying Tripoli airport could be closed for months. (AFP)