Two police stations in Benghazi bombed

BENGHAZI: Bomb attacks targeted two police stations in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi yesterday, causing extensive material damage but no casualties, a security official said.
“Unknown individuals threw explosive devices at the police stations in Ras Obeida and Al-Madina,” the official told AFP.
The attacks damaged the police stations and several cars parked nearby, he said.
Benghazi, Libya’s second city and cradle of the 2011 uprising that toppled the regime of now slain dictator Muammar Qaddafi, is the scene of frequent attacks and assassinations targeting security officials.
Authorities blame radicals for the violence, including a deadly attack in September against the US Consulate in Benghazi that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and four other Americans. On Thursday, the US State Department issued a travel warning, saying it “strongly advises against all but essential travel to Tripoli and all travel to Benghazi, Bani Walid and southern Libya, including border areas and the regions of Sabha and Kufra.”
And yesterday, Britain announced it was temporarily withdrawing some staff from its embassy in Tripoli due to security concerns over recent political unrest.
US authorities took a similar step on Wednesday, saying the security situation in Tripoli had deteriorated as a result of armed groups seizing government buildings in a dispute over a law that would ban officials of the regime of ousted dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
The British Foreign Office said yesterday the country was temporarily pulling out some staff from its embassy in Tripoli due to security concerns over recent political unrest. "Given the security implications of the ongoing political uncertainty, the British Embassy is temporarily withdrawing a small number of staff, mainly those who work in support of government ministries which have been affected by recent developments," a spokesman said.
"The embassy is open as usual, including for consular and visa services."
The political crisis in Libya has been sparked by former rebels besieging two government ministries.
The gunmen surrounded the foreign ministry on April 28 and the justice ministry two days later to demand the passing of a law excluding collaborators of Muammar Qaddafi holding government posts.