At Least 15 Killed in Car Bombing at Benghazi Hospital

Militia Claims Bombing Was 'Accident'

An apparent car bombing tore through the crowded parking lot of a Benghazi hospital today, killing at least 15 people and wounding 30 others. Few other details were known, but the government issued several statements revising the death toll, with some as high as 17 killed.

The incident was just the latest in a string of violence in and around Benghazi, and analysts said that the fact that it centered around a civilian target (unlike the recent bombings against police stations) might mark a major shift.

Another confusing aspect of the incident saw a militia calling itself the Operations Room of Libya’s Revolutionaries (ORLR) coming out to deny the incident entirely, reporting that it was an accident.

The ORLR claimed that the vehicle was theirs, and that the explosives were supposed to be used for fishing, not blowing up a hospital. They also reported that the driver died when the explosives accidentally went off.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.