22 killed, 20 injured in car bomb attack

dimeji akinloye

August 2, 2016 9:54 PM

The Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries has claimed responsibility for the attack.

A policeman gives instructions near the wreckage of a car destroyed during a suicide bombing near the African Union's main peacekeeping base in Mogadishu, Somalia, July 26, 2016. REUTERS/Ismail Taxta

At least 22 people have been killed and 20 injured after a car bomb rammed into security forces in the eastern

The blast was said to have occurred on Tuesday, August 2, in a residential area in the Guwarsha district, which is the scene of fighting between security forces loyal to Libya's eastern government and an alliance of Islamists and other opponents.

According to a statement posted on the media sites linked to the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, the group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Benghazi has been plagued by violence since eastern commander Khalifa Haftar launched a campaign against the Shura Council two years ago.

His forces have advanced in several areas in recent months, but have not gained full control of the city.

There have been occasional car bombings, though the toll from Tuesday's blast was unusually high.

The attack targeted a gathering of the special forces unit of Haftar's forces, known as the Libyan National Army (LNA), forces spokesman Fadel al-Hassi said.

A Reuters witness said the powerful explosion reduced a three-story building to rubble.

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Haftar's forces are allied to a government that has been based in eastern Libya since 2014, when armed groups set up a rival administration in the capital, Tripoli.

A U.N.-backed government moved into Tripoli earlier this year, but Haftar and the eastern government have so far rejected it.

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