A car bomb exploded near Benghazi’s Foreign Ministry building on Wednesday, exactly one year since an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi killed four Americans including the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens.
Unknown assailants detonated the car’s explosives at dawn on Wednesday, damaging the foreign ministry building and several others, according to CNN. No casualties were reported.
The security situation in Libya has become increasingly unstable since the death of dictator Moammar Gadhfi in 2011, according to the Associated Press. Since Gadhfi’s death, militia forces and the central government have been engaged in a violent power struggle. Militants commonly use car bombs to kill the government’s security officers.
"Libyans cannot ignore the timing of this explosion. It's a clear message by the forces of terror that they do not want the state or the army to stand on its feet," Prime Minister Ali Zeidan told Reuters reporters.
The attack also took place on the 12th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center buildings.