Militants fighting for the Islamic State (Daesh) today claimed responsibility for a series of suicide bombings that killed at least 45 people in a Libyan town under government control.
The group said the attacks in Qubba were in retaliation for the killing of Muslims in the Islamic militant stronghold of Derna, around 20 miles away.
Egyptian warplanes conducted multiple airstrikes in Derna after militants linked to the Islamic State group beheaded 21 Egyptian Christian hostages.
The attack also targeted the forces of army General Khalifa Hifter, who has been leading an offensive against Islamic militias on behalf of the internationally recognised government.
The group's statement said two of the 'Caliphate's knights' carried out suicide bombings targeting what they described as one of General Hifter's operations rooms.
According to Libyan army spokesman Mohammed Hegazi, a car bomb exploded next to a gas station in the town as motorists lined up to fill their tanks, killing at least 30.
The explosion also wounded dozens of others.
Hegazi added that the gas station was close to the town's security headquarters.
A security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the gas station blast was only one in a string of attacks in Qubba on Friday.
He said one other attack targeted the home of Parliament Speaker Ageila Saleh, who represents the elected government, based in eastern Libya.
A third attack targeted the security headquarters building itself, said the official, who also gave a different casualty figure, putting the total death toll at around 25.
Such conflicting tolls are common in the aftermath of large attacks. Hospital officials and others in Qubba could not immediately be reached for comment.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which Hegazi said bore the hallmarks of Islamic militants who have battled the army for months in and around the eastern city of Benghazi.
Libya has sunk into chaos, four years since longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi's ouster.
The country is split between two rival parliaments and governments.
One is based in the capital, Tripoli, and is backed by militias allied with Islamist factions.
The other is the elected parliament, which has been forced to relocate and old sessions in the far eastern city of Tobruk, near the Egyptian border.
