Damaged cars are seen at the site where a car bomb hit a funeral of a former senior military commander at Huwari cemetery in Benghazi, Libya July 11, 2019. REUTERS/Ayman al-Warfalli
July 11, 2019
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – At least three people were killed and 15 wounded when a car bomb hit a funeral of former senior military commander in the east Libyan city of Benghazi, medical and military sources said.
The funeral at Benghazi’s Huwari cemetery was for Khalifa Mismari, the assistant commander of Libya’s special forces under former leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was toppled in 2011, the military source said.
A Reuters witness saw two burned out cars at the scene of the blast.
According to the military source, the current head of the special forces, Wanis Bukhamada, was attending the funeral but was unharmed.
Since 2014, Libya has been divided between rival political and military factions based in Tripoli and the east.
The special forces have become a key unit aligned with Khalifa Haftar, the military commander who controls eastern Libya.
Since early April Haftar has been waging an offensive to try to take the capital Tripoli, in the west of the country, though his campaign has stalled.
(Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli; Writing by Ahmed Elumami and Aidan Lewis; Editing by Alison Williams)
