2 soldiers dead in IS-claimed car bomb in Libya’s Benghazi

Benghazi (Libya) (AFP) – Two soldiers were killed and three wounded in a car bombing Friday near the Libyan city of Benghazi, security sources said, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

The car exploded close to Al-Hawari cemetery, killing two soldiers of Libya’s internationally recognised government and wounding three, army spokesman Munzer al-Khartuch told AFP.

The cemetery is around 10 kilometres (six miles) from the centre of Benghazi, Libya’s second city.

IS said one of its militants blew up his explosives-laden vehicle in the middle of a group of soldiers, killing as many as 50 and destroying 15 vehicles.

Government forces have clashed with militants in the area since Thursday, when a military official said seven soldiers were killed near a cement factory.

Fighting has flared periodically in Benghazi for the past two years as security forces try to wrest neighbourhoods from armed groups including IS and Ansar al-Sharia, which is close to Al-Qaeda.