(CNN) -- A vehicle belonging to Italian diplomats appeared to be the target of a homemade bomb in the capital of Tripoli, the Libyan state news agency LANA reported Tuesday.

The minivan was damaged and had some of its windows blown out by a blast, but no one was injured, the news agency said. It reported two embassy employees were initially in the car but had gotten out before the explosion.

The Facebook page of the government's Supreme Security Committee in Tripoli said officials suspected the Toyota Previa had been rigged with an bomb and cordoned off the area. The explosive went off before the bomb squad arrived.

LANA said officials suspected a small homemade bomb of blasting gelatin was used in the attack.

The explosion occurred near a police station in the Zawiyat al-Dahmani district. The Italian embassy is in the same district.

Italians in Libya were targeted earlier this year as well.

In January, gunmen targeted the car of the Italian consul general in Benghazi. Consul General Guido de Sanctis was in an armored car pulling out of the garage when the gunmen pulled up alongside the vehicle and opened fire, he told CNN.

Benghazi was also the site of a September 11 assault on the U.S. consulate that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.