At least 22 people were killed and 20 wounded Tuesday night in Benghazi in a double car bomb attack outside a mosque in the center of this city in eastern Libya, according to a new report.
The new balance sheet only takes into account the victims admitted to al-Jala hospital in Benghazi, said a spokesman for this establishment, Fadia al-Barghathi, adding that it could worsen.
A previous assessment of the hospital al-Jala reported nine deaths and about thirty wounded.
A car bomb exploded as worshipers were leaving a mosque in al-Sleimani neighborhood in the center of the city, a security source said.
A second car exploded 30 minutes later in the same perimeter, causing more casualties among security services and civilians, the source said.
This mosque is known to be a stronghold of Salafist groups who fought the jihadists in Benghazi alongside the strong man forces of eastern Libya, Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
Ahmad al-Fitouri, a security official in charge of Marshal Haftar’s forces, was killed in the bombing, a military spokesman in Benghazi, Miloud al-Zwei, said.
Libya has been plunged into chaos since the popular uprising that ended Moamer Kadhafi’s regime in 2011.
Benghazi, which was a bastion of the Libyan revolution, had become a stronghold of jihadist groups.
Forces loyal to Marshal Haftar have managed last summer to retake jihadist groups almost all of Benghazi, after three years of deadly fighting.
The city has been particularly affected since 2011 by violence aimed in particular at diplomatic representations and security forces.
Two authorities are fighting for power in Libya, plunged into chaos since the fall of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi: on the one hand the GNA based in Tripoli and, on the other, an elected parliament and a parallel government that exercise their power in the east of the country with the support of Marshal Haftar.