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Deadly Libyan bomb attack

August 19, 2012

At least two people are said to have died in car bombings in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The attacks come during an important Muslim festival.

https://p.dw.com/p/15sVZ
Libyan security forces inspect the remains of a vehicle near the Ministry of Interior in Tripoli after twin blasts killed two people in the Libyan capital
Image: AFP/GettyImages

Libyan security sources said on Sunday that at least two people, both civilians, were killed and two wounded in one of two dawn car bomb attacks.

The sources said the first attack occurred near the interior ministry's administrative offices in Tripoli, without causing casualties. They said police found a second unexploded bomb at the site.

Minutes later, two car bombs exploded near the former headquarters of a women's police academy, killing two people and injuring at least two others, they said.

Tripoli's security chief, Colonel Mahmud al-Sherif, told the AFP news agency that he suspected loyalists of former dictator Moammar Gadhafi were behind the attacks.

Gadhafi was overthrown and killed last year after 42 years in power. Sunday's attacks were the first of their kind since his fall.

Both attacks took place in residential areas in the heart of the city. They came as worshippers prepared for mass morning prayers marking Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim celebration that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Libya has seen sporadic violence since Gadhafi's overthrow, despite the democratic election of a new government.

tj/msh (Reuters, AFP)