On Thursday, Libyan Ambulance and Emergency Service announced that two policemen of the Mizdah Security Directorate were injured in an explosion. This was after a prisoner detonated a hand grenade at a checkpoint, while being transferred to Gharyan prison.
In a statement, the Libyan Ambulance Service confirmed that the officers were transferred to the Gharyan Hospital and Mizdah General Hospital for treatment.
Libya and the UN have been striving to turn the page on the violence that has wracked the country, since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
A ceasefire between eastern and western factions last year led to a Libyan unity government taking office in March. This had a mandate to lead the country to elections, which have been indefinitely delayed
Foreign powers have been pushing hard for Presidential elections to be held as soon as possible. The process has been beset by sharp disagreements over the legal basis for the vote.
Foreign powers have backed various sides in Libya’s complex war, and the presence of mercenaries and foreign troops is one of the toughest obstacles to lasting peace.
In December, the UN estimated that 20,000 foreign fighters were present in Libya.
The county has for years been split between rival Libyan administrations, each backed by various militias and foreign governments.
The current stalemate grew out of the failure to hold Libyan elections in December, and the refusal of Prime Minister Abdel-Hamid Dbaiba to step down. In response, the country’s eastern-based Libyan Parliament appointed a rival Prime Minister, Fathi Bashagha, who has for months sought to install his government in Tripoli.