About 400 killed in past six weeks of fighting in Libya's Benghazi -medics
Dec 01, 2014 7:53pm GMT
BENGHAZI, Libya Dec 01 (Reuters) - About 400 people have been killed in six
weeks of heavy fighting between Libyan pro-government forces and Islamist
groups in Libya's second-largest city Benghazi, medical staff said on
Saturday.
Backed by forces led by a former general, the newly formed government army
launched in mid-October an offensive against Islamists in Benghazi,
expelling them from the airport area and from several camps the army had
lost during the summer.
In the past three weeks the fighting has centred around Benghazi's
commercial port where pro-government forces say Islamists are holed up. The
port has had to close, disrupting food supplies in the eastern city.
"The death toll has risen to 400," a source at a Benghazi hospital said,
declining to be identified for security reasons. Medics at other hospitals
in the city confirmed the estimated death toll.
The fighting in Benghazi is part of wider turmoil in the North African
country. Two governments, each with their own parliament and army chief of
staff are vying for legitimacy, three years after the ouster of Muammar
Gaddafi.
In August, Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni and his cabinet were forced to
leave Tripoli for the east of Libya when group called Libya Dawn seized the
capital.
The new rulers set up their own government and parliament, but these have
not been recognised by the United Nations and world powers.
The situation has been complicated by the Benghazi fighting where former
general Khalifa Haftar has merged his force with the army under a mandate
from the elected parliament, which is allied to Thinni and also operates out
of the east.
Haftar's spokesman Mohamed El Hejazi said his forces had surrounded the
Islamists in the port area. "All types of weapons including aircraft
supporting the infantry are being used to deal with them," he said.
Western powers and Libya's neighbours fear the conflict is dragging the
major oil producer towards civil war.
Haftar's forces have planes from Libya's outdated air force though his
opponents say he is backed by Egypt which is worried about the spread of
militants. Haftar denies this. (Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli; Writing by
Ulf Laessing; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)