Suicide attack: 13 soldiers dead in suicide bombing at Libya checkpoint
- 9 years ago
Originally published on December 23, 2013
Thirteen Libyan military officers were killed and three were wounded, at least two seriously, when a suicide bomber detonated a truck filled with explosives at an army checkpoint in the city of Barsis on Sunday (December 22). Barsis is located some 50 km (30 miles) outside of Benghazi.
According to a Libyan army officer, young man drove a Toyota truck up to the checkpoint and parked there. When officers came out to inspect the vehicle, it was detonated.
No group has claimed immediately responsibility for the attack.
Reuters reports, "But Ansar al-Sharia last month fought with soldiers who drove Islamists from Benghazi, where growing violence has further increased concerns about a wider descent into disorder in oil-producing Libya.
"The militants are determined to impose their ultraconservative vision of Islam.
All those killed in the attack on Sunday were soldiers, medical sources and security sources said.
"Ansar al-Sharia in Libya, an affiliation of Islamist and ultraconversative Salafist groups, has been blamed for the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in September 2012 when the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed.
"An American school teacher was shot and killed by gunmen earlier this month while he exercised in the city.
"Most countries have closed their consulates in Benghazi and some foreign airlines have stopped flying there.
"Western diplomats worry that the violence in Benghazi will spill over to the capital Tripoli, which last month saw the worst fighting in months between militias.
"Much of Libya's oil wealth is located in the east where many demand autonomy from the Tripoli government. Protesters in the east have taken over key ports, blockading much of the North African country's oil exports for months.
"The government of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan is struggling to control militias and tribesmen which helped topple Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 but kept their guns
Thirteen Libyan military officers were killed and three were wounded, at least two seriously, when a suicide bomber detonated a truck filled with explosives at an army checkpoint in the city of Barsis on Sunday (December 22). Barsis is located some 50 km (30 miles) outside of Benghazi.
According to a Libyan army officer, young man drove a Toyota truck up to the checkpoint and parked there. When officers came out to inspect the vehicle, it was detonated.
No group has claimed immediately responsibility for the attack.
Reuters reports, "But Ansar al-Sharia last month fought with soldiers who drove Islamists from Benghazi, where growing violence has further increased concerns about a wider descent into disorder in oil-producing Libya.
"The militants are determined to impose their ultraconservative vision of Islam.
All those killed in the attack on Sunday were soldiers, medical sources and security sources said.
"Ansar al-Sharia in Libya, an affiliation of Islamist and ultraconversative Salafist groups, has been blamed for the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in September 2012 when the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed.
"An American school teacher was shot and killed by gunmen earlier this month while he exercised in the city.
"Most countries have closed their consulates in Benghazi and some foreign airlines have stopped flying there.
"Western diplomats worry that the violence in Benghazi will spill over to the capital Tripoli, which last month saw the worst fighting in months between militias.
"Much of Libya's oil wealth is located in the east where many demand autonomy from the Tripoli government. Protesters in the east have taken over key ports, blockading much of the North African country's oil exports for months.
"The government of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan is struggling to control militias and tribesmen which helped topple Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011 but kept their guns