7 killed in Benghazi suicide bombing

BENGHAZI, Libya  

Five military personnel and two militants were killed in a twin suicide bombing late Tuesday in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.

"Two suicide bombers blew up their explosive-laden cars outside the main gate of a camp of the Libyan Special Forces in Benghazi, killing five military personnel and injuring four others," a military official told Anadolu Agency.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack.

Tuesday's attack followed two days of deadly fighting between army troops and members of the Islamist Ansar al-Sharia militia in the city's Bouatni district after the latter attacked an army base in the area.

At least 30 people have been killed and 86 others injured in the clashes.

Benghazi has been the scene of mounting crime and militancy since the 2011 ouster and death of longtime strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

The city has also witnessed sporadic fighting between forces loyal to renegade general Khalifa Haftar and Islamist militias, the latter of which have become a common feature of post-Gaddafi Libya.

In May, Haftar declared war on armed militias based in eastern Libya, vowing to "purge" the country of "extremists."

The Libyan government, for its part, has called the former general's campaign a "coup."

After serving as army chief-of-staff under Gaddafi, Haftar spent nearly two decades in the United States in exile before returning to Libya in 2011 to join the uprising against the long-serving autocrat.

By Moataz al-Majbari

www.aa.com.tr/en