Car bombings in Tripoli kill two, injure others
People gather around the remains of car which exploded near the headquarters of Libya’s rebels in their eastern bastion of Benghazi late on May 3, 2011.
Two car bombs detonated in Tripoli early Sunday morning have killed two people and injured several others.
The deadly attacks are the first of their kind since the fall of late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and come on the eve of the first anniversary Tripoli's fall, the Associated Press reported. On August 20, 2011, rebels who had fought to topple Gaddafi liberated the Libyan capital.
The first bomb exploded near the interior ministry's offices, but did not cause any casualties, Al Jazeera reported.
Police found a second bomb at that site which had not yet exploded.
A second car bomb was detonated minutes later at the former headquarters of a women's police academy, killing two civilians and wounding two, according to Al Jazeera. Libya's defense ministry had reportedly been using the space for interrogations and detentions.
The bombings occurred just before dawn as worshippers prepared for Eid al-Fitr prayers, the holiday which marks the end of Ramadan, Reuters reported.
Though no one has officially taken responsibility for the attacks, Libyan officials blamed Gaddafi loyalists, the AP reported.
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“I hold former regime aides fully responsible for this cowardly action,” said deputy interior minister, Omar al-Khadrawi, as he visited one of the sites of the blasts. He said “the same kind of bombs and the same tactics and equipment” were used in previously foiled car bombing attacks in Tripoli, the AP reported.
"These attacks are an attempt to spoil Eid by the Gaddafi supporters and scare us," Tripoli resident Mohammed Abdul told the Telegraph. "But there are very few Gaddafi supporters now and people refuse to be frightened by them."
Three men suspected of preparing bomb attacks were killed earlier this month during a police raid near Tripoli, but several of them fled the scene, authorities told Agence France Presse.
Security chief Colonel Mahmud al-Sherif told AFP he suspected these bombs were set off by the same group.
Authorities are currently searching for more car bombs, and have set up checkpoints around the city center.
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