BENGHAZI, Libya: A suicide bomber blew up a car outside the headquarters of Libya’s internationally recognized parliament Tuesday, wounding three lawmakers, a legislator said.
The attack, which a medical source said wounded a total of 18 people, came as a Libyan jet shot down a militia helicopter after Islamist-led fighters launched strikes on the eastern Es Sider oil terminal.
The car bomb struck near the back gate of the Dar al-Salam Hotel in the eastern city of Tobruk, where the parliament elected in June took refuge after Islamist-led militias seized control of Tripoli in August.
Farj Buhashem, a spokesman for the legislature, said parliament was meeting on the ground floor when the blast went off.
“There was broken glass and some pedestrians were injured,” he said.
Lawmaker Tareq Jarushi, speaking to AFP by telephone from Tobruk, said that the blast was caused by a suicide bomber who rammed his car into the back gate.
“Witnesses saw a car painted in military colors ramming the back gate and then explode,” Jarushi said.
Jarushi, who is the son of air force chief Brig. Gen. Saqr Jarushi, said body parts had been found at the scene of the bombing, “indicating that this was a suicide attack.”
Three lawmakers who were outside the building at the time were slightly wounded by shattered glass, he said.
A source at a Tobruk hospital said 18 people were treated for minor wounds and later released.
The attack comes as the U.N. mission to Libya, UNSMIL, plans a new round of peace talks between warring factions aimed at ending months of violence and political deadlock in the North African nation.
The U.N.-brokered talks are set to take place on Jan. 5, diplomats at the U.N. Security Council said last week.
But Libya’s internationally recognized parliament voted Monday not to attend the negotiations if the rival legislature in Tripoli is party to the talks, according to lawmaker Abdulsalam Nassiyeh.
The suicide bombing came as militia aircraft, including a chopper, attacked pro-government forces in the so-called “oil crescent” eastern region around Es Sider oil terminal, military spokesman Ali al-Hassi said.
“The air force shot down the helicopter as it prepared to land at a military base near Sirte airport, after it had taken part with other aircraft in the air raids,” Hassi said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Fighters from the Islamist-led Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) coalition of militias, which controls much of Tripoli, as well as second and third cities Benghazi and Misrata, have been trying to seize Es Sider and nearby Ras Lanouf terminals.
They launched a surprise attack by speedboat Thursday in which 22 soldiers in the Es Sider area were killed. Seven oil tanks at Es Sider were set on fire as a result of the fighting. On Sunday, firefighters managed to extinguish the blazes at four of them and put out another fire the following day.
The fire has destroyed up to 1.8 million barrels of crude and damaged seven storage tanks, causing total damage of $213 million, a top oil official said Tuesday.
Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani’s top oil official, al-Mabrook al-Buseif, told Reuters the fire had damaged seven tanks and destroyed up to 1.8 million barrels of crude – roughly four times Libya’s daily production.