Libya truck bomb targets police recruits in Zliten; 65 killed

Hundreds of people were gathering for a graduation ceremony when the attack occurred, dozens sustained various injuries from the attack with many receiving shrapnel wounds.

The Islamic state group claimed the suicide bombing on Thursday that killed six people, including a baby, at a checkpoint at the entrance of the oil city of Ras Lanuf in eastern Libya.

A massive truck bomb exploded near a police base killing at least 60 policemen and wounding around 200 others, officials said.

Rescue crews have only managed to extract 60 bodies out of the wreckage, a hospital spokesman, Moamar Kaddi, said.

Libya was thrown into political chaos and violence after the ouster of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. “We started an operation yesterday to register all strangers in the town without residency permits, but unfortunately this didn’t prevent this catastrophe”, said Zliten Security Directorate’s Serraj Al-Rashdi, according to the Libya Herald.

Four local hospitals reportedly declared emergencies due to the large number of casualties from the attack, which is believed to have wounded 127 people.

Hospitals in Zliten, around 160 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli, have appealed to local residents to donate blood for the injured victims of the attack, according to LANA. Islamic State fighters this week attacked two major oil export terminals.

Since the Nato-backed revolt ousted Gadafy, Libya has slipped deeper into turmoil with two rival governments and a range of armed factions locked in a struggle for control of the North African state and its oil wealth. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack that left some 70 people dead.

The militant group this week shelled Libya’s biggest oil port, Es Sider, starting fires that spread to storage tanks and prompted the National Oil Corp.to issue a “cry for help”.

IS has been expanding its foothold in Libya, exploiting the instability that has gripped the country since the 2011 uprising.

The deadly attack has been strongly condemned by United Nations special envoy to Libya, Martin Kobler, who has also urged in a Twitter message for the Libyans to untie against terrorism.