A suicide bomber detonated a car laden with explosives outside the hotel where Libya's internationally recognized parliament was in session in the eastern city of Tobruk on Tuesday, wounding three deputies and at least eight others, the assembly's spokesman said.
Parliamentarian Abu Bakr Baeira said no one other than the bomber was killed in the attack in the eastern city where the elected assembly has been forced to convene since Islamist-allied militias seized the capital Tripoli over the summer and revived a rival government.
Parliamentary spokesman Farraj Hashem said the legislators had been meeting in a nearby hall when the car exploded near the hotel entrance gate.
The bombing is the most violent attack on the parliament since it set up in Tobruk, near the Egyptian border.
No one claimed responsibility for the bombing. Officials have blamed previous attacks on Islamic extremists based in the eastern town of Darna, who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
Attack on oil terminal
The suicide bombing came as militia aircraft, including a chopper, attacked pro-government forces near the Es Sider oil terminal, said military spokesman Ali al-Hassi. A Libyan jet shot down a militia helicopter, Hassi added.
Until now, Tobruk has been relatively secure compared to the rest of Libya, which has been in turmoil since Moammar Gadhafi was toppled and killed in a NATO-backed revolt four years ago.
Libya's conflict is pitting former rebel brigades that helped oust Gadhafi in 2011 but now fight for power and a share of Africa's biggest oil reserves.
The House of Representatives in Tobruk is allied to the internationally recognized government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni, who was also forced to relocate after Libya Dawn took control of the capital.
Libya Dawn has established its own parliament in Tripoli, though this has not been recognized by world powers.
The conflict has been complicated by a separate battle in Benghazi where Thinni's forces have merged with troops of a former general fighting Islamists.
The conflict in Libya has left hundreds dead and hundreds of thousands internally displaced. Most diplomatic missions have shut down their embassies and many foreign workers have fled the country.
Material for this report came from Reuters, AFP and AP.
