Eight people killed in suicide attack in eastern Libya

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.