At least 20 people were wounded by a bomb in the centre of the eastern Libyan city of Tobruk this morning, where the country's elected parliament is based, a lawmaker said.

"The explosion took place away from where parliament sits ," Saleh Hashem, a lawmaker. "20 people have been wounded, nobody got killed".

A security source said two people had been killed but other officials said there were only wounded.

The House of Representatives is working out of a hotel in Tobruk near the Egyptian border as the capital Tripoli is controlled by a rival group which has set up its own parliament and government.

Libya is grappling with turmoil as armed factions who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 struggle for power.