BENGHAZI, Libya: A powerful car bomb exploded yesterday near a hospital in the Libyan city of Benghazi, killing 15 and wounding dozens in what officials said appeared to be the first such attack on civilians since Muammar Gaddafi’s ouster.
Officials gave contradicting death tolls, however, as information trickled in about the devastating bombing which destroyed a restaurant and damaged cars and buildings near Al Jala hospital in the centre of Benghazi.
Young demonstrators took to the streets to protest against the insecurity still ravaging the city which was the crade of the uprising against Kadhafi, taking up one of its rallying cries : “Benghazi, wake up.”
Deputy Interior Minister Abdullah Massoud said 15 people were killed and another 30 wounded in the attack. He stressed it was a “preliminary toll”.
But health ministry spokesman Salah Abdeldayem later said in Tripoli that four people died and six were wounded.
A police official in Benghazi gave a higher toll.
Tarak Al Kharaz told Libya’s Al Ahrar television station that the bombing killed 13 people and wounded 41.
Dozens of people, many of them youths, rushed to the scene, some even volunteering to gather body parts and place them in clear plastic bags, journalists reported.
Witnesses said children were among the casualties, but it was not immediately clear if they were dead or wounded. The bombing wrecked cars and left debris scattered on the ground.
The deputy interior minister said the blast “totally destroyed a restaurant” and damaged buildings near the hospital.
Justice Minister Salah Al Mirghani denounced a “terrorist act” and vowed the authorities would “do everything possible to arrest the criminals”.
Mirghani urged national “unity” as commentators noted the bombing hit Libyan civilians in broad daylight in the first attack of its kind since the 2011 uprising.
A Benghazi security official said: “We don’t know yet whether the attack targeted civilians or a particular individual.”
The UN Support Mission in Libya condemned the “criminal attack” and urged all Libyans to put up a united front against “all attempts at destruction, terrorism and the destabilisation of Libya.” Benghazi, Libya’s second city, has seen a wave of violence in recent weeks.
But previous attacks, bombings or assassinations, have rocked the city by night or in the early hours of the day when the streets are empty, and have hit non-civilian targets, namely security officials.
Four police stations have been bombed in Benghazi in recent days — two on Friday and two on Sunday — causing damage but no casualties.
Authorities blame radical Islamists for the violence, including a deadly attack in September against the US consulate in Benghazi that killed ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. “We still don’t know if this bombing targeted civilians or one particular individual,” a security official said.
AFP
