Suicide blast hits police post in Benghazi

A suicide car bomb has exploded at a police station in Libya’s second city, Benghazi, leaving the bomber dead and at least one police officer wounded, a security official said.

Ibrahim al-Sharaa, a local security service spokesman, said there were a number of casualties in the attack that took place at the Berses post on Wednesday evening.

Police officer Khaled Al-Agouri said one of his colleagues was injured in the attack, which happened when the suicide bomber “drove a refrigerated lorry which he exploded upon arrival at the post.”

“We have not yet identified the victims. There are human remains at the site. But it is unclear whether they all belong to the bomber or if there are other victims,” he told the AFP news agency.

It was the second suicide attack against the police station in the western Libyan city. An attack there last December left 13 people dead.

Benghazi was the cradle of the 2011 uprising that ended Mouammar Gaddafi’s four-decade rule, and has since been plagued by violence that has killed dozens of members of the security forces, as well as judges and foreigners.

Fighters have also attacked foreign missions in Benghazi, including a September 2012 assault on the US consulate that killed the ambassador and three other Americans.

Last month, former general and long-time US exile Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive in the city dubbed “Operation Dignity”, aimed at eradicating what he calls jihadist “terrorists”.

Haftar has been branded an “outlaw” by Libya’s interim authorities, while his detractors have accused him of leading a coup – a claim he denies.

Last week, Haftar escaped an assassination bid, but three of his aides were killed when a suicide bomber attacked a villa outside Benghazi where he was holding a meeting.