Tripoli, 26 April 2013:
Unidentified gunmen this evening attacked the headquarters of a security battalion in Derna, killing one of its members.
The . . .[restrict]dead man has been named as Faisal Omar Akrush.
Following the attack, a car bomb containing 50 kilos of explosives was reportedly discovered according to the Libyan news Agency LANA. It is roughly half the size of the one that exploded outside the French embassy on Tuesday.
The car bomb was dismantled by explosives experts from Beida.
The Uqba bin Nafi brigade one of the three main security units in the town. The other two are Shahadat Bu Sleem and Shahadat Zawia.
Derna has earned itself a reputation a centre of Islamist militants since Libya’s liberation. A fornight ago, the leader of its Ansar Al-Sharia brigade, former Guantanamo detainee Sufian ben Qumu, escaped an assassination bid when gunmen opened fire on his vehicle at Latrun, some 30 kilometres west of Derna. It is said he was not in it at the time.
It is not yet clear if the two incidents are connected. [/restrict]