Update: Bomb Injures Guard at Egypt’s Mission in Benghazi

A bomb blast ripped through the garden wall of the Egyptian consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Saturday, injuring a security guard who needed hospital treatment, witnesses said.

They said at least five children were also cut by flying glass from the explosion, which blew out windows and significantly damaged a building opposite the consulate and vehicles.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Witnesses said the bomb had apparently been hidden inside a briefcase.

Police cordoned off the scene as investigators combed the area for clues. They later reopened the street but posted extra police outside the consulate.

Egyptian security forces are conducting a crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood supporters following last month’s ousting of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.

At least 800 people have been killed in three days of violence after security forces broke up Brotherhood protest camps in Cairo set up to demand Morsi’s reinstatement.

Islamists across the Middle East have condemned the crackdown and some have staged protests in their own countries.

Lawlessness has blighted large areas of Libya following the 2011 war that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

Benghazi has seen a wave of violence with attacks on security forces and foreign targets.

U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed in Benghazi last year after Islamist gunmen attacked the U.S. consulate during a protest by a mob angry over a film they said insulted the Prophet Mohammad.

Source: Reuters