BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - At least five people were killed and six wounded when a suicide bomber drove a car laden with explosives into a checkpoint in the eastern Libyan town of Ajdabiya late on Thursday, medics said.

The explosion hit the eastern exit of Ajdabiya, a town south of Benghazi, a military source said. It is close to the oil export ports of Brega and Zueitina.

No further details or claim of responsibility were immediately available. Some six cars were damaged by the blast, a witness said.

The town is controlled, as is much of eastern Libya, by forces of Khalifa Haftar allied to a parallel government based in the east.</s>BENGHAZI, Libya: At least three people were killed and four wounded when a car bomb went off in the eastern Libyan town of Ajdabiya late on Thursday a medical source said.

The explosion hit a checkpoint at the eastern exit of Ajdabiya, a town south of Benghazi, a military source said.

No further details were immediately available.</s>CAIRO — Libyan authorities say six people were killed when a suicide car bomber struck a checkpoint in eastern Libya, in an attack claimed by the local affiliate of the Islamic State group.

The bomber targeted the eastern gates of Ajdabiya, said Fawzy al-Mansouri, head of the city operations room. He added that members of one family were among the dead and that five soldiers were wounded. IS claimed responsibility on Friday on its Aamaq news agency.

The attack comes less than a week after a U.S. airstrike killed two al-Qaida militants, including a top recruiter, Musa Abu Dawud, in southern Libya.

Islamic extremists expanded their reach across Libya after country was plunged into chaos following the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi.</s>BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Islamic State claimed responsibility on Friday for a suicide car bombing this week in the eastern Libyan town of Ajdabiya, the militant group’s news agency Amaq said on Friday.

The explosion struck a checkpoint on Thursday at the eastern exit of Ajdabiya, a town south of Benghazi, a military source said. It is close to the oil export ports of Brega and Zueitina.

Amaq said 14 troops of General Khalifa Haftar had been killed of wounded. His forces allied to a parallel government based in the east control Ajdabiya and much of eastern Libya.

According to medics, six people were killed and nine wounded.

Islamic State, which lost in 2016 its stronghold Sirte in central Libya, had in October claimed an attack about 60 km (37 miles) south of Ajdabiya during which two soldiers were killed.

The group has retreated since the fall of Sirte to camps in the desert in southern Libya from where it has launched suicide bombings and attacks in coastal towns.</s>The Daesh terrorist group on Friday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in eastern Libya the previous day that killed eight people, including civilians.

A suicide attacker detonated his explosives-laden vehicle at a barricade manned by forces loyal to Libyan general Khalifa Haftar near the city of Ajdabiya, local security and hospital sources said. Eight other people were wounded in what was the second such attack in less than a month.

The terrorist group, in a statement issued by its propaganda outlet Amaq, said a militant named Abu Qudama al-Saeih had blown up his car at a barricade manned by Haftar's forces, killing or wounding 19 personnel. General Fawzi al-Mansouri, a top officer in the local security forces, said civilians were among those killed and wounded in the attack, 840 kilometers (520 miles) from the capital Tripoli.

Daesh also claimed a March 9 suicide attack to the south of Ajdabiya that wounded three people. Despite the December 2016 loss of its Sirte bastion in northern Libya, Daesh remains active in the center and south of the country.

The oil-rich North African country has been wracked by chaos since a 2011 uprising that toppled and killed long-time leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Two authorities, a Tripoli-based unity government and a rival administration in the east, are vying for control of Libya.</s>At least eight people, including civilians, were killed late Thursday in a suicide car bombing of a security barricade in the east of Libya, the second such attack in less than a month, local security and hospital sources said.

A suicide attacker exploded his vehicle at a barricade manned by forces loyal to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar near the city of Ajdabiya some 840 kilometres (520 miles) from Tripoli, general Fawzi al-Mansouri, a top officer in the local security forces, told AFP.

Eight other people were injured.

"Five people died on arriving at the hospital shortly after the attack," a source at the city's public hospital told AFP.

The three other victims died later of their injuries, the source who requested anonymity said.

"There were civilians among the dead and injured," Mansouri said, adding that no one has yet claimed responsibility.

A suicide attack which injured three people on March 9 south of Ajdabiya was claimed by the Islamic State group.

Despite the loss of its Sirte bastion in northern Libya in December 2016, IS remains active in the center and south of the country.

The oil-rich North African country has been wracked by chaos since a 2011 uprising that toppled and killed long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

Two authorities - the Tripoli-based unity government and a rival administration in the east - are vying for control of Libya.

Haftar, who opposes a UN-backed unity government based in Tripoli, announced the "liberation" of the eastern city of Benghazi last July after a three-year campaign.</s>ALEPPO, Syria — A car bomb blew up Sunday in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, killing three civilians and wounding more than 25 others a day after two lethal blasts in the capital, a monitoring group said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in a statement updating an earlier report to give the casualty toll, said the bomb struck near the city’s political security offices.

In Damascus, state news agency SANA said a “terrorist” car bomb exploded between two residential buildings in the Sulaiymaniyah district of Aleppo, without giving an immediate report of casualties.

The attack left dead and wounded, state television reported, without giving a precise casualty toll. It showed footage of damaged buildings and destroyed cars.

Activists in Aleppo, the target of car bombings Feb. 10 that killed 28 people, said in Beirut on Skype that the latest blast rocked the city at 12:50pm local time.

On Saturday, twin car bomb blasts killed 27 people and wounded 140 others in the heart of Syria’s capital, the interior ministry said, blaming “terrorists” for the attacks near police and air force headquarters.</s>On March 22, the U.S. Embassy Libya External Office, based in Tunis, and the Libya Local Investment & Development Fund (LLIDF) co-hosted a U.S.-Libya commercial roundtable, bringing together representatives of U.S. companies to learn about LLIDF’s priorities on private sector investment to advance shared interests in creating essential infrastructure and diversifying Libya’s economy. This is the first such event organized by the United States in almost four years. Representatives from American companies such as Bechtel, Caterpillar, G.E., G.E. Health, Whispering Bell, and Hill International attended the event in Tunis. In addition, two trade organizations representing many U.S. firms participated in the event, including the American Chamber of Commerce in Libya based in Tripoli, and the U.S. Libya-Business Association, based in Washington, D.C.

The LLIDF is a private company under Libyan law established in 2009.

The U.S. Embassy Libya’s Deputy Chief of Mission Natalie Baker thanked LLIDF Chief Executive Officer Bader Ben-Othman and the LLIDF for hosting the event. “We are so pleased that everyone could join us in what we hope is the first in a series of events that will expand the economic ties between the United States and Libya,” said DCM Baker. “The State Department and the Libya External Office are here to support U.S. firms as they seek to expand into new markets – and, just as importantly, we are sure the knowledge and expertise you bring can help Libya tackle some of its biggest development challenges.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Embassy in Libya.</s>On March 22, the U.S. Embassy Libya External Office, based in Tunis, and the Libya Local Investment & Development Fund (LLIDF) co-hosted a U.S.-Libya commercial roundtable, bringing together representatives of U.S. companies to learn about LLIDF’s priorities on private sector investment to advance shared interests in creating essential infrastructure and diversifying Libya’s economy. This is […]

On March 22, the U.S. Embassy Libya External Office, based in Tunis, and the Libya Local ...



Source : http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...</s>TRIPOLI: A US air strike hit a house in southern Libya on Saturday where jihadist "leaders" were meeting, killing two of them, the spokesman of the Libyan prime minister said.

Spokesman Mohamed El Sallak, in a statement on his Twitter account, said the strike was "coordinated" with the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) of Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj.

The raid targeted "a meeting of terrorist leaders" in a house in the Ubari region, 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) south of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, said Sallak.

He later told AFP he was not immediately able to identify the jihadists targeted in the air strike.

The United State has carried out frequent raids on the Islamic State group in southern Libya.

Libya has been gripped by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, with rival administrations and multiple militias vying for control of the oil-rich country.

Jihadists and people-traffickers have taken advantage of the chaos to gain a foothold in the North African country.

IS seized Kadhafi's hometown of Sirte in June 2015 but were driven out of the coastal town in December the following year by pro-GNA forces with US air cover.

The jihadists are still active, however, in central and southern Libya.

IS has claimed several attacks in Libya, the latest in February when a suicide car bombing against the forces of Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar killed three militiamen.

Haftar supports an administration in the east of the country, opposed to the Tripoli-based government of Serraj, who has struggled to assert his authority across the country.
A car bomb kills five people and injures six others in Ajdabiya, Libya.