Daesh bombing kills two in Libya’s Sirte

By Alaa Abul Enein

TRIPOLI

Two people were killed in a suicide bombing carried out by members of the Daesh terrorist group on Monday in Libya’s northern city of Sirte, according to reports in the local media.

A Daesh bomber blew himself up near a government building in Sirte’s southern Abu Hadi district, killing two people and injuring several others, the Ain Libya website reported, citing local sources.

Monday’s bombing comes one day after four troops loyal to Libya’s UN-backed unity government were killed in three separate suicide attacks in Sirte.

All three attacks were later claimed by Daesh.

Officials of the unity government have yet to comment on Monday’s bombing.

Libya has been locked in a state of violence and turmoil since 2011, when a bloody popular uprising ended with the ouster and death of longtime strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

Since then, the country’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of government -- one in Tobruk and another in capital Tripoli -- each of which boasts its own military capacity and legislative assembly.

Late last year, Libya’s rival governments signed a UN-backed agreement to establish a unity government in an effort to resolve the country’s six-year political standoff.

Since 2015, Sirte has been held by Daesh, which took advantage of the conflict between Libya’s rival political camps to seize 250 kilometers (roughly 155 miles) of coastline near the Mediterranean city, which lies between Libya’s eastern and western power bases.

In April, forces loyal to the UN-backed unity government launched an offensive aimed at recapturing the coastal city from the notorious terrorist group.

*Anadolu Agency correspondent Mohamed Sabry contributed to this report