Deadly Car Bomb Detonates Near Benghazi Hospital

There have been reports of a car bomb that detonated in a car park just outside a major hospital in Benghazi, north Libya, killing at least 12 people and wounding dozens, according to defense ministry officials.

According to AFP news agency, the car bomb laid waste to Al-Jala hospital’s car park on Monday afternoon, with at least 30 people wounded in the attack.

An official of the ministry also added that two children were amongst the dead, explaining that the explosives were loaded in a grey Toyota car.

Benghazi has been the centre of several attacks ever since the uprising that saw the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi began.

Demonstrators took to the streets, flooding the scene of the bombing with anger clearly seen on their faces. Many blamed militants for the incident, calling for only police and military presence in the country. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The explosion took out dozens of vehicles and did damage to nearby buildings, putting residents in a state of pandemonium.

The attack came only a day after the militants ended their two-week siege on foreign and justice ministries, and days after the US and the UK withdrew some of their staff from the embassies over concerns of their safety in the presence of rising tensions between militants and government forces.