Car bombs hit government-held towns in Libya

Three car bombs detonated in the government controlled Libyan towns of Tobruk and Labraq on Wednesday morning, killing at least seven and injuring dozens of others.

Libya is in growing chaos as armed factions compete for power. One has taken over the capital Tripoli, setting up its own government and parliament and forcing the elected parliament and administration of Abdullah al-Thinni, the prime minister, to move east.

PHOTO: First images coming out after suicide car bomb attack in #Tobruk this morning. via @LibyaAlHurraTV pic.twitter.com/tbeoo9P962

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The first attack struck the usually peaceful Tobruk, home to the internationally recognised House of Representatives (HoR), which moved to the eastern town in August.

The Libya Herald reported two soldiers were killed in the blast, along with the bomber, and at least 21 others injured. The death toll is expected to rise as some of the wounded are in a critical condition.

The attack occurred when a man stopped his car, laden with explosives, at a set of traffic lights on a busy intersection close to the town's petroleum institute.

Another blast was near the military airport of Labraq, used by al-Thinni, who is now based in nearby Bayda, east of Benghazi.

A third blast, reportedly also a car bomb, occurred in the main eastern city of Benghazi, where the Libyan army and Khalifa Haftar, a renegade former general, are battling armed groups.