Twin car bombs have exploded as people left a mosque in a residential area of the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, killing at least 34 and wounding dozens more, officials said.

The toll was one of the highest from a single attack since Libya slid into turmoil after the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Benghazi is controlled by the Libyan National Army (LNA), which is led by a powerful eastern-based commander, Khalifa Haftar. The city has been relatively calm since Haftar announced its “liberation” from jihadists in July last year after a three-year campaign, but sporadic violence has continued.

Capt Tarek Alkharraz, a spokesman for military and police forces in Benghazi, said the first explosion happened in the Salmani neighbourhood at about 8.20pm on Tuesday.

In what appeared to be a deliberate attempt to maximise casualties, the second bomb went off half an hour later as residents and medics gathered to help the wounded.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings, but the mosque is known to be a base for Salafist groups which fought the jihadists alongside Haftar’s forces.

Al-Jala hospital received 25 dead and 51 wounded, its spokeswoman Fadia al-Barghathi said. The Benghazi Medical Centre received nine dead and 36 wounded, it spokesman Khalil Gider said.

Ahmad al-Fituri, a security official for Haftar’s forces, was among those killed, said a military spokesman, Miloud al-Zwei.

Quick Guide Why is Libya in chaos? Show What happened after the Libyan revolution? Muammar Gaddafi was ousted as president in 2011 after more than 40 years in power. But deep division between his supporters and adversaries persisted. An internationally recognised National Transitional Council took over, but quickly succumbed to schism, particularly between east and west. How did things get so chaotic? The transitional authorities found it impossible to extend their writ across the whole country, which was splintering into myriad factions: former regime loyalists, revolutionary brigades, local militia, Islamists, old army units, tribes, people trafficking gangs. What about elections? A General National Congress was elected in 2012 and established itself in Tripoli. But when a national parliament was elected in 2014, the GNC refused to accept the result; the new body had to install itself in the eastern city of Tobruk. Libya now effectively had two governments - the former buttressed by Islamist militias in its Tripoli stronghold, the latter supported by Khalifa Haftar, a renegade army colonel now head of the armed forces. What about the international community? Libya has become too unsafe for diplomats and most aid workers. The UN pulled its staff out in 2014 and foreign embassies followed suit. Tripoli international airport is largely destroyed by fighting. Where has this left Libya? The conflict has killed 5,000, ruined the economy, driven half a million from their homes and trapped hundreds of thousands of migrants seeking to get north to Europe in a nightmarish network of brutal camps. Diplomatic attempts at reconciliation have proven fruitless thus far.



The United Nations condemned the bombings, saying direct or indiscriminate attacks on civilians were prohibited under international humanitarian law and constituted war crimes.

Libya fell into chaos following the overthrow and killing of Gaddafi in 2011. Since 2014 it has been split between rival governments and parliaments based in the western and eastern regions, each backed by different militias and tribes.

Haftar supports an administration based in the east of the country. A UN-backed unity government based in the capital, Tripoli, has struggled to assert its authority outside the west.

UN efforts to reconcile the rival administrations have so far produced no concrete result.

Islamic State fighters had established footholds amid the disorder but have mostly been driven out of the main cities.

Benghazi remains a troublespot, where bombings and attacks still occur. The city has seen fighting between forces loyal to Haftar, a former US-based Libyan opposition member, and Islamist militia opponents.

Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report