Egypt slams Benghazi terror attack

CAIRO - 24 January 2018: Egypt condemned on Wednesday the terrorist attack on a mosque in Libya's Benghazi which left about 33 people dead and 70 others injured.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry offered condolences to the families of the victims and wished those injured speedy recovery.

The ministry underlined Egypt's support for Libya in the face of terrorism.

The ministry stressed Egypt's denunciation of all acts of terrorism which target the security and stability of Libya.

The ministry exhorted the international community to strictly combat weapons smuggling which is one of the main reasons behind the spread of terrorism.

Egypt has cautioned of this when Greece seized a weapon-laden ship heading for Libya.

Two booby-trapped cars blew up in Benghazi targeting worshipers. The first explosion struck outside the mosque in the Al Salmani district, at around 8:20 pm local time as the worshipers were leaving after evening prayers.

Around 10 to 15 minutes later, when security and health officials arrived on the scene, a second powerful blast occurred after the detonation of a car laden with explosives parked on the opposite side of the street.

The second blast also hit an ambulance and caused a higher number of casualties than the first.

Health officials said the death toll could rise because some of the wounded are in critical condition.