Car bombs kill at least four in east Libya as chaos mounts

BENGHAZI, Libya — Car bombs exploded in eastern Libyan towns under the control of the internationally recognised government on Wednesday, killing at least four people and wounding 20 others, officials said.

Four more people were killed when an air strike — a possible response to the car bombs — hit targets in Derna, an eastern town home to a large radical Islamist community, medics said.

Libya is in growing chaos as armed factions compete for power. One has taken over the capital Tripoli, setting up its own government and parliament and forcing the elected parliament and administration of Prime Minister Abdullah Al Thinni to move east.

One car bomb went off in a busy street in the eastern city of Tobruk near the Egyptian border, where the elected parliament is based in a hotel. "Twenty people have been wounded," said Saleh Hashem, a lawmaker. "Nobody was killed."

Another blast struck near the military airport of Labraq, used by Thinni, now based in nearby Bayda east of Benghazi. A security source said four soldiers were killed there.

A third car bomb exploded in the main eastern city of Benghazi, where the Libyan army and former general Khalifa Haftar are fighting Islamists. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Air strike on militant town

Between Tobruk and Bayda lies Derna, a hotspot for radical Islamists, where dozens of youths two weeks ago pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, leader of Islamic State militants fighting in Syria and Iraq.

Unidentified aircraft carried out strikes on Derna on Wednesday, local residents said. Four people were killed and at least six wounded, medics said.

There were no details of targets. Libya has a small air force which was damaged during the 2011 uprising against Muammar Qadhafi. Haftar's forces, which back the army in Benghazi, have planes from the Qadhafi-era air force, though his foes say he also gets air support from Egypt, which is worried about the spread of Islamist militants.

Haftar denies having Egyptian military support.

International attempts to mediate in the conflict have failed to bring the major armed groups to the table.

Rivalries among factions who helped topple Qadhafi in 2011 have hit oil supplies, with gunmen last week attacking the huge El Sharara oil field and forcing its shutdown after guards fled the site, which can produce 340,000 barrels a day.