ISIS-linked suicide attacks kill 42 people in Libya, Libya: Militants claiming loyalty to ISIS killed 42 people in suicide car bombings in eastern Libya Friday, in apparent retaliation for Egyptian airstrikes.
The three car bombs exploded in Qubbah, a small town near the seat of the official government in what appeared to be another high profile attack by the group after the storming of a Tripoli hotel and the killing of 21 captive Egyptian Copts.
Monday, Egyptian air force jets bombed ISIS targets in Derna in eastern Libya, after the ultra-radical group released a video showing the Coptic Christian migrant workers being decapitated on a beach.
“They killed and wounded tens in revenge for the bloodshed of Muslims in the city of Derna,” said a statement issued by the “ISIS, Cyrenaica province.” It could not be verified by Reuters but this group has issued statements before which were not subsequently contested by others.
The bombs exploded shortly before Friday prayers at a gas station, the local security headquarters and the town council in Qubbah, hometown of Parliamentary Speaker Aguila Saleh, security officials said. His house is close to the town council, but he was out of town at the time.The deadliest bombing was carried out by an attacker who rammed an explosives-packed ambulance into a gas station where motorists were lined up, army spokesman Mohammad Hegazi said.
“Imagine a car packed with a large amount of explosives striking a gas station; the explosion was huge and many of the injured are in very bad shape while the victims’ bodies were torn to pieces,” Hegazi said.
Some 42 were killed, including five Egyptian workers, and 70 were wounded, security officials and medics said. The death toll was expected to rise.
Four years after rebels overthrew Moammar Gadhafi, the oil-producing North African state is in chaos, with two governments allied to armed factions fighting for control, while Islamist groups exploit the power vacuum.
Previous suicide and car bomb attacks, mainly in the east of Libya, have tended to target police and army bases rather than civilians, with security officials blaming Islamist groups such as Ansar al-Shariah, which are believed to have links with militants claiming allegiance to ISIS.
“We are announcing seven days of mourning for the victims of Qubbah,” Saleh told Al-Arabiya television. “I think this operation was revenge for what happened in Derna.”
Hours after the attacks, troops loyal to the official government used military helicopters to attack militant targets in Derna, a military source said.
Warplanes also attacked forces loyal to the rival government in Ben Jawad, military spokesman Ali al-Hassi said. The area is a launchpad for rival forces, which have been trying to take the Es Sider oil port.
The internationally recognized prime minister, Abdullah al-Thani, is based in Al-Baida, some 40 km from Qubbah. Saleh works from Tobruk, an eastern town now home to the House of Representatives, the elected parliament.
The capital Tripoli in the far west is under the control of the rival government and parliament, set up after a faction called Libya Dawn seized the city in summer, forcing Thani to flee to the east.
Last month, militants claiming affiliation with ISIS stormed Tripoli’s Corinthia luxury hotel, killing five foreigners and at least four Libyans.
Supporters of the group, which has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria, have also taken over government and university buildings in Sirte, a central city and birthplace of Gadhafi, according to residents.
The three car bombs exploded in Qubbah, a small town near the seat of the official government in what appeared to be another high profile attack by the group after the storming of a Tripoli hotel and the killing of 21 captive Egyptian Copts.
Monday, Egyptian air force jets bombed ISIS targets in Derna in eastern Libya, after the ultra-radical group released a video showing the Coptic Christian migrant workers being decapitated on a beach.
“They killed and wounded tens in revenge for the bloodshed of Muslims in the city of Derna,” said a statement issued by the “ISIS, Cyrenaica province.” It could not be verified by Reuters but this group has issued statements before which were not subsequently contested by others.
The bombs exploded shortly before Friday prayers at a gas station, the local security headquarters and the town council in Qubbah, hometown of Parliamentary Speaker Aguila Saleh, security officials said. His house is close to the town council, but he was out of town at the time.The deadliest bombing was carried out by an attacker who rammed an explosives-packed ambulance into a gas station where motorists were lined up, army spokesman Mohammad Hegazi said.
“Imagine a car packed with a large amount of explosives striking a gas station; the explosion was huge and many of the injured are in very bad shape while the victims’ bodies were torn to pieces,” Hegazi said.
Some 42 were killed, including five Egyptian workers, and 70 were wounded, security officials and medics said. The death toll was expected to rise.
Four years after rebels overthrew Moammar Gadhafi, the oil-producing North African state is in chaos, with two governments allied to armed factions fighting for control, while Islamist groups exploit the power vacuum.
Previous suicide and car bomb attacks, mainly in the east of Libya, have tended to target police and army bases rather than civilians, with security officials blaming Islamist groups such as Ansar al-Shariah, which are believed to have links with militants claiming allegiance to ISIS.
“We are announcing seven days of mourning for the victims of Qubbah,” Saleh told Al-Arabiya television. “I think this operation was revenge for what happened in Derna.”
Hours after the attacks, troops loyal to the official government used military helicopters to attack militant targets in Derna, a military source said.
Warplanes also attacked forces loyal to the rival government in Ben Jawad, military spokesman Ali al-Hassi said. The area is a launchpad for rival forces, which have been trying to take the Es Sider oil port.
The internationally recognized prime minister, Abdullah al-Thani, is based in Al-Baida, some 40 km from Qubbah. Saleh works from Tobruk, an eastern town now home to the House of Representatives, the elected parliament.
The capital Tripoli in the far west is under the control of the rival government and parliament, set up after a faction called Libya Dawn seized the city in summer, forcing Thani to flee to the east.
Last month, militants claiming affiliation with ISIS stormed Tripoli’s Corinthia luxury hotel, killing five foreigners and at least four Libyans.
Supporters of the group, which has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria, have also taken over government and university buildings in Sirte, a central city and birthplace of Gadhafi, according to residents.
