Four Dead, 13 Injured In Libya’s Car Bomb Explosion
MEP: At least four civilains, including two children, were killed and 13 others injured after a car bomb blast hit the Libyan city of Benghazi, officials said Saturday.
The incident happened when explosives-laden car went off on Friday night in front of the entrance of Benghazi’s al-Jalaa hospital, one of the two largest in the war-torn city and where government-linked troops receive treatment for injuries.
Fadia Berghathi, head of the hospital’s media department, told AFP “a car bomb exploded in front of the entrance of the hospital, killing four civilians and wounding 13 others”.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Benghazi has witnessed fierce battles in the past two years between pro-government troops led by General Khalifa Haftar and armed militias, including Takfiri groups such as Daesh and the al-Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Sharia.
The attack comes as Libyan forces fighting Daesh in its stronghold of Sirte on Friday in which four of their troops and 10 militants were killed in heavy clashes around the port area as militants tried to flee the city under siege.
Brigades from the nearby city of Misrata, allied with the country’s U.N.-backed government of national unity, launched a campaign to retake Sirte last month. They rapidly recaptured ground west of the coastal city, but their advance slowed as they closed in on its centre.
