CAIRO — Militants loyal to the Islamic State group said three suicide car bombers staged attacks in eastern Libya on Friday, killing at least 35 people in apparent retaliation for Egyptian airstrikes after the mass beheadings of Christian migrant workers.
The bloodshed in Qubba — near the Islamic State stronghold of Derna on the Mediterranean coast — was among the deadliest attacks by the militants against civilians in Libya as they seek to expand amid the country’s internal chaos.
It also comes less than a week after Egyptian warplanes targeted Islamic State sites in Derna in response to the beheading of 21 Christians, all but one from Egypt.
Later Friday, the spokesman for the Libyan National Army said Libyan warplanes had carried out strikes against the Islamic State in Sirte. The militants posted a statement online claiming that the strikes had caused no damage.
A statement posted to an online militant forum claimed responsibility for the attacks in Qubba as “revenge” for those killed in Derna — an apparent reference to the airstrikes. The statement also cited Libya’s internationally recognized government for “conspiring” in the air attacks and other crackdowns.
Qubba, about 25 miles west of Derna, is controlled by the government recognized by the international community as Libya’s leadership. A separate, rival administration holds the capital, Tripoli.
The three blasts targeted a busy gas station, a security building and the home of the speaker of the country’s internationally recognized parliament, said local media and Libya’s health minister.
Libyan Health Minister Reda al-Menshawi said 35 people died. That figure could rise because many were reported wounded.
The Associated Press cited security officials as raising the death toll to at least 45. The Reuters news agency quoted security officials setting the number at about 40.
Hours after the attack, parliament speaker Aguila Saleh, whose house was targeted, told the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television network that he thought the attacks were in retaliation for the airstrikes.
The airstrikes Monday came after the mass beheadings of the Christians, all but one of them Egyptian Copts, by Islamic State militants in the Libyan city of Sirte.
The extremist group has recently made inroads in eastern Libya, which has been wracked by internal unrest since the uprising that toppled Moammar Khadafy four years ago.
