Two cars blown up in Derna, both drivers injured

Tripoli, 11 November 2013:

In two separate attacks, explosive devices placed under the cars of former Derna security personnel have been detonated, leaving both drivers injured.

The first incident happened at 10 pm last night in the town centre, targeting a former police officer from the Derna Security Directorate, not named for his own safety.

A device placed beneath his car was detonated when the man was getting into his car, a local resident told the Libya Herald. Local people rushed to the scene, and took the injured man to hospital. The victim, he said, received injuries to his legs and had been told by doctors that he had permanently lost the hearing in one ear.

The second attack, at 2.30 this afternoon, targeted a former member of the town’s municipal guard. This man was seriously injured when an explosive device blew up his car, and was rushed to the intensive care unit of Derna Hospital.

Fearing for the man’s safety, his family declined to talk to the media.

The local resident explained that both men were former security personnel because neither the Derna Security Directorate nor the municipal guard were now functioning.  The role of the municipal guard had been to support the local police, when there was still a police force in the town.

Derna has been the scene of three attacks in two days. On Saturday, the General Prosecutor for the Jebel Akhdar region was killed in the town when his car was blown up. [/restrict]