Egypt condemns deadly mosque attack in Libya's Benghazi

Source: Xinhua| 2018-01-24 20:10:16|Editor: ZD
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CAIRO, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Egypt strongly condemned the recent deadly car bomb attack in Benghazi city eastern Libyan, which killed at least 33 people and wounded more than 70 others, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Egypt condemns all terrorist activities that target security and stability all over the state of Libya and obstruct the reconstruction of the Libyan state institution," Egyptian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in the statement.

Growing terror activities in Libya were "direct results of the arms smuggling without strict control from the international community," the statement added.

On Tuesday, two car bombs exploded outside a mosque in Salmani district of eastern Libyan's Benghazi city, killing and injuring tens of worshippers who were leaving the mosque after the evening prayer.

Earlier in mid-January, Egypt expressed serious concerns over Turkey's alleged shipment of explosives to war-torn Libya via a ship that was recently intercepted by the Greek authorities.

Seven years after a 2011 uprising ended the rule and life of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is currently engaged in a civil war and run by two rival administrations, one in the capital Tripoli northwestern the country and the other in Tobruk city in the northeast.

The administration of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi accuses Turkey, besides Qatar, of supporting terrorism and interfering in Egypt's domestic affairs by hosting fleeing members of the currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

Egypt also has been suffering a rising wave of terrorism that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers, as well as hundreds of civilians, since Morsi's military removal in early July 2013 in response to mass protests.

Most of the terrorist attacks in Egypt were claimed by a Sinai-based militant group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) regional group.

Sisi, who declared an anti-terror war following Morsi's ouster, supports self-proclaimed Libyan national army chief Khalifa Haftar in his similar counterterrorism operations in the neighboring Arab country.

Egypt is concerned about its 1,200 km western border with eastern Libya that has been a smuggling destination of arms and militants over the past few years.

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