TRIPOLI, June 12 (Xinhua) -- A double car bomb suicide attack targeted a heavily populated neighborhood in the eastern Libyan city of Darna on Tuesday, killing and injuring a number of civilians, a military source said.
"A suicide attack was carried out by the remnants of the Darna terrorist council with two car bombs in the eastern neighborhood of Sheha on our forces in the neighborhood," Mohammed Khalid, an officer of the army's operations chamber of Darna, told Xinhua.
The final casualties is yet to come, Khalid said.
A similar suicide attack with two car bombs on Monday injured four army soldiers near the city's seaport.
The eastern-based army, led by General Khalifa Haftar, is launching a military operation to take over Darna from the militants who control the coastal city.
The army has besieged Darna since 2015, demanding that the armed group of the Shura Council (Consultative Council) of the Mujahideen in Darna, a coalition of Islamist militias, leave. The army accuses the group of being loyal to al-Qaida.
Since the beginning of the fight between the army and the militants, more than 30 soldiers were killed and 40 others were injured so far, according to medical and military sources.
Army spokesman announced on Sunday that the army has taken over more than 90 percent of Darna, expecting full control of the city in the next few days.
