Car bombing kills 4 in Libya’s Benghazi

Moataz al-Majbari

BENGHAZI, Libya (AA) - At least four people were killed and 14 others injured in a car bombing late Friday in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi.

“A car-bomb struck outside al-Galaa hospital in Benghazi, killing four people and injuring 14 others,” hospital spokesperson Fadi al-Barghathi told Anadolu Agency.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Libyan security official Walid al-Arfi, however, blamed what he termed as “terrorist” groups for the attack.

“Extremist groups the army is fighting in Benghazi were resposible for this car bombing given that the hospital treats injured army soldiers,” he said.

Benghazi has seen armed clashes between forces loyal to the Tobruk-based government and militants.

Libya has been locked in a state of violence and turmoil since 2011, when a bloody uprising ended with the ouster and death of longtime strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government -- one in Tobruk and another in capital Tripoli -- each of which boasts its own military capacity and legislative assembly.

Late last year, Libya’s rival governments signed a UN-backed agreement to establish a unity government in an effort to resolve the country’s six-year political standoff.

*Anadolu Agency Correspondent Mohamed Sabry contributed to this report from Egypt