Almost 30 Libyan soldiers killed in Benghazi attacks

BENGHAZI, Libya - Almost 30 Libyan soldiers were killed and 70 wounded in a double suicide bombing and clashes in the port city of Benghazi on Thursday, medics said.

Four people were also killed in a separate attack by suspected Islamists on an army checkpoint in Qubah, east of Benghazi, hospital officials said.

Libya is being racked by violence as the armed groups which helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 turn their guns on each other in a struggle for the country's vast oil resources and political domination.

In Benghazi, special army forces allied to brigades of former general Khalifa Haftar have been fighting Islamist brigades including Ansar al-Sharia, accused by Washington of killing the US ambassador to Libya in 2012.

Two cars loaded with explosives drove into an army checkpoint near Benghazi's civilian and military airport, killing three soldiers, Wanis Bukhamada, commander of army special forces in Benghazi, told Reuters.

Four soldiers were killed in clashes with Islamist militants in the same area, he said.
[jpost.com]
3/10/14
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