Twin car bombs in Benghazi city kill at least 33 and wound dozens
A double car bombing at a mosque in the east Libyan city of Benghazi on Tuesday killed at least 33 people and wounded dozens.
The explosions shattered the relative calm that had recently returned to Libya’s second city, scene of more than three years of warfare from 2014 until late last year.
The first blast took place outside the mosque in Benghazi’s central Al Salmani district as worshippers were leaving maghrib prayers.
About 10 to 15 minutes later, after security and health workers arrived, a more powerful blast was detonated in a Mercedes-Benz on the opposite side of the street, hitting an ambulance.
One of those killed was Ahmed Al Feitouri of the unit attached to the general command of east Libyan security forces. Mahdi Al Fellah, a senior intelligence official, was among the 50 wounded.
Among the victims was an Egyptian working in a vegetable shop in front of the mosque. Health officials said the toll could rise because some of the wounded were in critical condition. There was no claim of responsibility.
Forces loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who supports the government in the east, won the battle for Benghazi’s after long urban battles against extremists and others, which left parts of the city in ruins.
There were several bombings in the latter stages of the conflict targeting figures linked to Field Marshal Haftar’s Libyan National Army, but Tuesday’s toll was far higher than usual.
The army claimed victory in Benghazi in July but sporadic clashes dragged on until last month, when it took control of its rivals’ final holdout.
It has imposed strict military controls on Benghazi and other parts of eastern Libya.
The fighting in that city was part of a broader conflict that developed in Libya after former ruler Muammar Qaddafi was removed from power and killed in a Nato-backed uprising in 2011.
The North African nation has had competing governments aligned with rival military factions based in Tripoli and Tobruk in the east since 2014.
The eastern government, which opposes an internationally backed government in the capital, declared three days of mourning after Tuesday’s attacks.