At least 2 dead in car bombing in Benghazi

BENGHAZI, Libya — At least two people were killed and seven wounded in a nighttime car bomb attack targeting a security chief in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, a news agency and medical sources said Sunday.

LANA news agency, based in the country's east, said a vehicle exploded at around 2:00am (0000 GMT) in a western suburb of Benghazi as a convoy of cars drove up carrying the chief of a forensic police unit.

The two dead were in the convoy, it said, while civilians were among the wounded.

A military source said the official, Hamada Al Ramli, escaped unhurt.

"We have received seven wounded in the explosion, some in serious condition," Khalil Goueder, a spokesman for the Benghazi Medical Centre, told AFP.

Benghazi, the country's second city, located 1,000 kilometres from Tripoli, has for the past two years been the scene of clashes between Islamists and forces loyal to a government based in eastern Libya.

The Mediterranean city is plagued by frequent car bombings.

Extremist groups such as Daesh took root in Libya in late 2014, taking advantage of the chaos and power struggles that followed the fall of Muammar Qadhafi's regime in a 2011 revolution.