Varying reports say 20 to 30 more were wounded by the blasts, which took place within minutes of each other.

The first vehicle blew up in front of a mosque in the central al-Sleimani neighbourhood, as worshippers were leaving the building after evening prayers.

A second car exploded soon afterwards on the other side of the street.

Both military personnel and civilians are among the victims. The number of fatalities may rise, a spokeswoman for the local al-Jala hospital told AFP news agency.

It is not yet clear who was behind the bloodshed. The BBC’s North Africa Correspondent Rana Jawad says many bombings of this kind go unclaimed in Libya.

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A shocking night for Benghazi residents
Rana Jawad, BBC North Africa correspondent

A video showing the aftermath of the scene of the first explosion has been broadcast by a Libyan channel. You can see the debris outside the mosque, patches of fire, and men in civilian clothes frantically putting lifeless bodies onto the back of a police pick-up truck.

Amid this chaotic scene, we also see a dazed and seemingly injured man sitting amid the debris. Not far away from him are what look like other dead and injured people.

No one has claimed responsibility for this latest attack, but speculation is rife over who could be behind it. Though there have been deadly bombings in Libya in the past, this latest twin attack, with blasts 15 minutes apart, is not a common occurrence there. It appears to have aimed for a high civilian death toll.

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Libya has descended into turmoil since the 2011 overthrow of its then-leader Muammar Gaddafi. Two rival parliaments and many powerful militia groups have battled for dominance, and the disruption has allowed the Islamic State group to gain a foothold in the country.

The city of Benghazi has seen conflict between Islamist militias and the self-styled Libyan National Army, headed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

A de-mining team from the Libyan National Army at work in Benghazi (file picture)
Haftar announced the “total liberation” of the city in July 2017, after three years of fighting with jihadists there.

Nonetheless, clashes and violence have continued to plague Benghazi.

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Source: BBC

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The Ansar al-Sharia group said that its leadership had been wiped out while fighting the Libya National Army.

Most of it members are thought to have defected to the Islamic State group.

Separately a case against Hillary Clinton brought by the parents of two Americans killed in the Benghazi attack has been dismissed by a US judge.

The Benghazi diplomatic compound attack killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, while Mrs Clinton was secretary of state. The issue dogged her presidential campaign last year.

Ansar al-Sharia was blamed for the attack on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi in 2012

Patricia Smith and Charles Woods, parents of two of those killed, filed a lawsuit against Mrs Clinton for wrongful death and defamation.

The suit claimed the former secretary of state’s use of a private email server contributed to their sons’ deaths.

The parents also accused her of defaming them in statements to the media.

But federal judge Amy Berman Jackson ruled that the complainants had not proved that Mrs Clinton was not acting in her official capacity by using the private server. She also judged that they did not have enough evidence to substantiate their defamation claim.

The al-Qaeda linked Ansar al-Sharia group emerged in Benghazi – Libya’s second largest city – in the upheavals following the death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi n 2011. At one point in 2014 they took control of the city.

But the group suffered heavy casualties while fending off continued offences launched by Libyan National Army strongman Khalifa Haftar – who earlier this month repeated his efforts to drive jihadist fighters out of their two remaining strongholds in Benghazi.

The online announcement of Ansar’s formal disbandment called on Islamists to form a united front in Benghazi.

Libya now has two rival parliaments and three governments. The bulk of the fighting is between the Libyan National Army and forces aligned with the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli.

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Source: BBC

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