EU pledges 100 million euros to aid Libya’s unity government

Libyan prime minister Fayez Sarraj, left, and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini participate in a media conference in Tunis, Tunisia, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has announced a 100-million euro aid ($109 million) for Libya’s UN-supported unity government, one day after the attack that killed at least 60 policemen in the Libyan town of Zliten. Mogherini condemned the attack, in a joint press conference with Libyan prime minister Fayez Sarraj Friday in Tunis. AP

TUNIS — The European Union’s foreign policy chief has unveiled a 100 million euro ($109 million) aid package for Libya’s fledgling unity government one day after an attack by a suicide bomber killed at least 60 policemen.

Federica Mogherini announced the aid deal Friday at a joint press conference with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj in Tunis, the capital of neighboring Tunisia, where the unity government is temporarily based.

Mogherini condemned Thursday’s mass killing of officers and called security “the greatest challenge Libya faces.”

READ: Libya truck bomb kills at least 60 policemen, wounds 200

An affiliate of the Islamic State extremist group in eastern Libya claimed responsibility for the attack in Zliten, when an attacker detonated a truck bomb beside a police training center.

Mogherini, who spent Friday in talks with senior Libyan officials, said EU nations would offer Libya “technical and logistical” support for battling extremists, but no troops on the ground.

Libya slid into chaos following the 2011 toppling and killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. The oil-rich country long has been torn between an Islamist government based in the capital, Tripoli, and a rival United Nations-recognized administration in eastern Libya. The unity government, forged last month following UN-led negotiations, is currently based in Tunis because of security risks back home.