A picture taken on December 25, 2018 shows a firetruck and security officers at the scene of an attack outside the Libyan foreign ministry headquarters in the capital Tripoli. AFP / Mahmud TURKIA
Suicide bombers struck the Libyan Foreign Ministry’s headquarters in Tripoli, killing three people, officials said, in the latest blow to efforts to stabilize the war-ravaged North African nation.
Gunmen opened fire on the ministry and one of them blew himself up, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. At least 11 others were wounded, Health Ministry spokesman Amin Al-Hashimy said on state-run television Al-Rasmiya.
The blast set off a fire inside the building, and black smoke could be seen billowing from its windows, footage from state television showed. The pavement outside was scattered with glass and debris, and nearby cars were on fire.
Government installations in the capital and elsewhere in the country have repeatedly come under attack assailants ranging from rival militias to Islamic State militants.
Officials have been largely powerless to halt the violence as rival governments vie for power in a political tug-of-war that has stunted attempts to stabilize and rebuild the nation that sits atop Africa’s largest proven reserves of crude.
Islamic State had been forced to withdraw from the towns and cities it held in Libya to regroup in the south. But in a reflection of its resilience in the largely lawless nation, it has conducted a series of attacks including an assault on the Libyan National Oil Corporation headquarters in Tripoli in September.
