Deadly Car Bombs in Libya Set Back Efforts to Stabilize It

(Bloomberg) -- Twin car-bombings killed at least 26 people outside a mosque in the Libyan city of Benghazi, calling into question the ability to stabilize a divided nation struggling to make peace.

The attack late Tuesday is the deadliest to hit Libya’s second-largest city in almost two years and undercuts militia leader Khalifa Haftar’s claim to have vanquished militant groups in the nation’s oil-rich east, raising the prospect of worsening violence. Haftar, who controls the country’s largest armed force and much of the east, vowed to bring the attackers to justice, the Libya News Agency reported. No one claimed responsibility.

“It shows very well that the problem of jihadism in eastern Libya has not been completely addressed by Haftar and his military takeover of the city,” said Riccardo Fabiani, senior analyst for the North Africa and Middle East with the Eurasia Group.

“It’s almost inevitable. You can kick out all these jihadist groups, but their ability to carry out opportunistic attacks remains the same,” Fabiani said.

Carved Up

Since Muammar Qaddafi’s 2011 ouster, Libya -- home to Africa’s largest proven oil reserves -- has been carved up among dozens of militias and rival administrations in the east and in the capital, Tripoli. A deal brokered by the United Nations in 2015 failed to heal the country’s divisions and an internationally recognized prime minister in Tripoli, Fayez al-Sarraj, has struggled to impose his authority.

The Benghazi blasts occurred roughly 30 minutes apart on Tuesday night. Authorities said the second explosion appeared to target first-responders and onlookers who rushed to the scene after the first explosion -- a tactic commonly used by militants in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

At least 101 people were injured, the Libya News Agency reported, citing Major Tarek al-Kharaz, spokesman for the security operations room in the area. Fatalities included a high-ranking member of the special forces unit of Haftar’s Libya National Army militia, according to special forces commander Wanies Bu Khamada.

“Despite the liberation of Benghazi, there are still infiltrators within us,” he said on state television.

While the bombings underscored the continuing reach of militant groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State, Haftar’s backers could use attacks such as these as leverage in peace talks, said Eurasia Group’s Fabiani.

They could seize on this as “the kind of event that underlines the threat from jihadists and that Haftar is needed more than ever to contain those threats,” he said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Ghaith Shennib in Cairo at gshennib@bloomberg.net, Tarek El-Tablawy in Cairo at teltablawy@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net, Amy Teibel, Lin Noueihed

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