ISIL suicide bombings kill at least 45 in Libya

The extremist group said it had targeted the government-backed forces of General Khalifa Haftar, apparently in revenge for air strikes on its stronghold Derna earlier this week.

An image provided by extremist media outlet Welayat Tarablos on February 18, 2015 allegedly shows members of ISIL parading through a street in the Libyan city of Sirte. Welayat Tarablos, handout/AFP PShow more

TRIPOLI // ISIL militants claimed responsibility on Friday for car bombings in eastern Libya that killed at least 45 people and wounded as many as 70 others.

The ISIL branch in Libya said two suicide bombers targeted the forces of General Khalifa Haftar in the town of Al Qoba “in revenge for the blood of our Muslim people in the city of Derna”, an apparent reference to air strikes on the militant stronghold this week.

Al Qoba is controlled by Gen Haftar’s forces which are backed by Libya’s embattled internationally recognised government.

The UAE denounced the attacks and the President, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said the injured should be transported abroad for treatment.

Al Qoba lies just 30 kilometres west of Derna, where Egyptian air strikes were launched against ISIL targets on Monday in retaliation for a gruesome ISIL video showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians.

The statement claiming responsibility for Friday’s attack was signed by the ISIL branch in the eastern Cyrenaica region and was accompanied by pictures of the purported suicide bombers identified as Bitar Al Libi and Abu Abdullah Al Jazrawi.

It said they carried out “two suicide car bombings targeting the operations room of the tyrant Haftar ... killing and wounding dozens ... in retaliation against the conspiring Tobruk government.”

It was referring to the internationally recognised parliament which is based in the eastern city of Tobruk and which ISIL accuses of having conspired in killing Muslims in Derna.

“This is a message to anyone who is tempted to attack the soldiers of the caliphate (ISIL) or any Muslim,” it added.

However, security sources said three simultaneous attacks targeted police headquarters in Al Qoba, as well as the home of the speaker of the internationally recognised parliament and a petrol station.

Medics said parliament speaker Aguila Salah Issa was not at home at the time of the bombings.

Mr Issa later announced a seven-day mourning period, and said the bombings were revenge for the Egyptian air strikes.

The majority of the casualties were at the petrol station where a long queue of motorists had been waiting to fill up, medics said.

Libya has been engulfed in violence and chaos for four years since longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi’s overthrow and killing in 2011.

The internationally recognised parliament has been based in Libya’s remote east since an extremist-backed militia alliance seized the capital Tripoli last August and installed a rival parliament and government.

Violence has escalated dramatically in eastern and western Libya since the summer, displacing hundreds of thousands of Libyans and causing diplomats to flee and embassies to be shuttered. The fighting has also left entire cities and towns in ruins.

* Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Wam, Reuters