Blast at Algerian embassy in Libya wounds five

A blast near the Algerian Embassy in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, wounded five people on Saturday, an Al Arabiya correspondent reported.

AFP quoted an official who works for a unit tasked with protecting embassies as saying the attack in central Tripoli seriously wounded a guard and two passers-by and damaged the building and parked cars.

The assailants threw "a bag full of explosives from a passing car at a police car parked near a guard post", the source told AFP.

The Algerian Embassy, like most foreign missions in the Libyan capital, was closed last year as militias battled for control of the city.

The Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) coalition of Islamist-backed militias seized control of Tripoli in August after fierce clashes with nationalist forces.

Saturday's attack comes a day after Fajr Libya announced a cease-fire in the oil-rich North African country, hours after an agreement at U.N.-brokered peace talks between the warring factions in Geneva.

Libya has been wracked by conflict since the overthrow of dictator Moammer Qaddafi in a 2011 uprising, with rival governments and powerful militias battling for control of key cities and the country's oil riches.

(With AFP)