Suicide bombers attack Libya's foreign ministry

Libya's internationally recognized unity government said on Tuesday that two suicide bombers blew themselves up as they targeted the Foreign Ministry in Tripoli. At least three people died and ten were injured. Witnesses reported seeing plumes of smoke rising from the building.

A third bomber was reportedly killed by security forces before he could detonate his vest.

The Foreign Ministry in Tripoli issued a statement: "The Libyan people are fighting a war against terrorism on behalf of the world." The Tripoli government is recognized by the United Nations. Its rival administration is centered on the eastern city of Tobruk. 

The "Islamic State" (IS), who have carried out similar suicide attacks In Libya before, claimed responsibility for Tuesday's suicide bombings in a statement published on the group's Amaq news website.

Libya has been locked in conflict since 2011, when an uprising saw longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi overthrown and killed. Since then, rivals factions and militias have engaged in both long-term and sporadic fighting. While there is now ostensibly one central government in Tripoli, Libya remains plagued by sectarian violence.

In addition to to the two main administrations in Tripoli and Tobruk, there are dozens of regional, religious and ethnic militias across the country vying for power and control of the area's vast oil wealth.

es/kms (AFP, Reuters)

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