News / North Africa

Bomb attack leaves 6 dead in northern Libya

Thursday, 07 January 2016 9:52 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 07 January 2016 10:09 PM ]

File photo shows a burning oil refinery in the town of Ra's Lanouf in northern Libya.

A bomb attack has left six people, including a 16-month-old infant, dead in a northern Libyan town.

Three guards and two other people, who are reportedly the child’s relatives, were killed in the Thursday attack at a checkpoint in Ra's Lanouf.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.

Daesh Takfiri terrorist group attacked Ra's Lanouf and the port of Sidra, another oil hub located 23 kilometers (14 miles) away, on Monday and Tuesday, setting fire to two key oil terminals.

The attacks killed at least 10 guards and wounded dozens and the fire was reported to have spread to oil storage tanks on Wednesday. But the terrorists, who are currently in control of Sirte, also located in the north, fell short of seizing the towns.

An image grab taken from an amateur video on January 5, 2016 shows a petroleum storage tank burning at the oil terminal in the northern Libyan port of Sidra. ©AFP

Earlier on Thursday, at least 65 people were killed in a truck bomb attack that struck a police training center in Libya’s northwestern city of Zliten. No individual or militant group has claimed responsibility for the terror strike, which is also believed to have wounded 127 others.

Libya has been struggling with instability since 2011, when the country’s then dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, was overthrown and armed groups as well as regional factions engaged in a conflict.

The capital, Tripoli, is controlled by a political faction, called Libya Dawn, allied with powerful armed forces based in the city of Misrata. The faction has reinstated the old parliament, known as the General National Congress (GNC), in the capital.

The internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni is based in the eastern city of Bayda, with its elected House of Representatives in Tobruk.

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