There was a suicide attack outside of Benghazi at the Barsis checkpoint on Sunday Dec 22nd. This is arguably the first suicide attack in Libya's history. (Click here to read what Libya Herald has to say about that. ) Given the nature, timing, and location of the attack, it would appear likely that it was perpetrated by jihadists, likely of non-Libyan origin or with training from non-Libyan sources. It could also be construed as Ansar al-Sharia's revenge for the setbacks it has faced over the last month. Jamie Dettmer has written in The Daily Beast that:
Sunday’s suicide bombing in Benghazi could be a sign that al Qaeda is no longer using Libya as a haven—but instead turning the country into a battlefield. .... Rami El Obeidi, the former intelligence chief of the rebels during the uprising against Gaddafi and a commander of some of the soldiers who were killed in Sunday’s explosion, told The Daily Beast that his preliminary information showed the bomber was actually from Mali, not Libya. The bomber is likely one of the hundreds of jihadists in Mali who fled north when the French intervened a year ago to quash a radical Muslim insurgency in the sub-Saharan African state, El Obeidi said.... The Libyan army unit targeted was one of the few that had gone head-to-head with hardline Islamist militias and had tried to counter Al Qaeda’s growing presence in Libya. “It had caused serious disruption to jihadist logistics supply routes between Derna and Benghazi,” says El Obeidi. For the whole story click here.
As a response to the attack, the official celebrations of Libyan Independence day on the 24th have been cancelled and national mourning declared. Al Jazeera have also pointed out that this bombing is part of the string of attacks against government targets in the East which have escalated over the last months.
The incident on Sunday comes just days after Colonel Fethallah al-Gaziri, the newly appointed chief of military intelligence in Benghazi, was assassinated during a visit to his family in the city of Derna....
The security post's chief, Fraj al-Abdelli, who was wounded in the attack, said the checkpoint had received several threats since arresting four people in November who were carrying weapons, explosives, money and a hit list.