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.

Dozens Killed in Deadly Tanker Explosion in Mexican Suburb

There has been a deadly explosion on a highway in Ecatepec, a Mexican Suburb, leading to the deaths of at least18 people and several injured, according to officials of the Citizens Safety Department.

The explosion occurred when the gas tanker crashed into another vehicle, leaving in its wake at least 30 damaged homes and 20 charred wreckage of cars, according to media reports.

Security forces, paramedics, and firefighters were at the scene of the incident. Emergency workers have started combing through the remains of the blast site, but authorities fear that the death toll could rise higher.

Officials say the driver of the tanker that exploded is receiving medical attention while under arrest at the hospital. The highway between Mexico City and Pachuca where the blast occurred has been shut down.

Most of the victims were residents in their improvised homes close to the highway, which points out a problem of constructing homes too close to the highways.

 
In recent years, there has been a series of accidents involving overloaded Mexican lorries or unsafely operated trucks. The accidents sparked a protest that forced the government to announce measures that would be taken to tighten inspections and reduce the maximum permitted weights for trucks last year.

Explosion at a JUI-F Rally in Pakistan Leaves Many Injured

There have been reports of an explosion killing at least 15 people, and leaving several injured at a political rally of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam faction candidate, Munir Orakzai in Kurram Agency on Monday.

Although, Orakzai was believed to have escaped the bombing unhurt, a government administrator in the region claimed about 50 people were injured in the attack.

He also added that the bomb appeared to have been placed in the building where the rally was to be held by the national assembly candidates of JUI faction.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but, it is not news that the Pakistani Taliban has strongly opposed the elections, calling it “un-Islamic”, and carrying it out its threats to disrupt the activities of the main parties in the outgoing coalition.

Interim Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mir Hazar, has strongly condemned the attack, as the violence has continuously risen ahead of the general elections, with over 60 people killed in the attacks directed at the political parties and their candidates since April 11.

  

Deadly Car Bomb Explosion Rocks Syrian Capital

The Syrian Interior Ministry has reported that a deadly car bomb explosion has occurred in the Majeh district of the Syrian capital of Damascus on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens of others.

According to residents in the area, a huge blast was heard, and a thick smoke billowing from behing a group of buildings.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights did not provide details on the casualties reported immediately, but they warned that the death toll was expected to rise.

A member of the Syrian parliament, Sharif Shehadeh, told Al Jazeera that “terrorism sponsored by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United States” was harming “innocent civilians.”

He added that, while Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey have been backing the Syrian opposition, the United States has provided “non-lethal aid” to groups fighting al-Assad’s regime.  

This bomb attack came only a day after an assassination attempt was made on the life of the Syrian Prime Minister, Wael al-Halqi.

Al-Halqi was unhurt in the bombing that occurred as his convoy passed through the street in the upscale western neighborhood of Mazzeh, but one of his bodyguards was killed in the process, with a few other injured, according to reports.

Building Explosion in Prague Injures Dozens

Emergency officials in Prague said a powerful explosion that damaged an office building in Czech’s capital has injured dozens of people (at least 40), and most likely trapped several others in the rubble.

According to police spokesman Tomas Hulan, the incident may have been caused by a natural gas explosion, shattering windows around the neighborhood on Monday.

Czech student Vaclav Rokyta told AP that there was glass everywhere, and people shouting and crying at the scene.

Although, it wasn’t clear how many people are trapped in the building, rescuers and paramedics were at the scene to tend to the injured, while the police have sealed the street and evacuated people from nearby buildings.

Business Editor of the Lidove Noviny newspaper, Frantiske Bouc, told Al Jazeera that people were ‘‘scared and shocked’’, adding that Prague “is not used to explosions”.

According witnesses’ account of the incident, they could smell gas in the street. The blast blew windows in Café Slavia, a Pargue landmark, and was heard as far as Prague Castle about 1.6km away across the Vltava River.

Prime Minister Petr Necas said in a statement he was “deeply hit by the tragedy.”