Benghazi – Fierce clashes erupted in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi Friday between Islamists and forces led by a retired general seeking to purge it of “terrorists”, an AFP journalist and witnesses said.
The witnesses said a group led by Khalifa Haftar, a former rebel chief in the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi, was backed by warplanes that pounded a barracks occupied by the Islamist “February 17 Brigade” militia.
Militiamen responded by opening up with anti-aircraft fire.
The two groups also clashed in the Sidi Fradj area of south Benghazi, the AFP journalist said.
Haftar’s group calls itself the “National Army” and a spokesperson for the force, Mohammed Al-Hijazi, told a local broadcaster it has launched “a large-scale operation to flush terrorist groups out of Benghazi”.
However, the chief of staff of the regular army, Abdessalem Jadallah al-Salihin, denied the force was involved in clashes in Benghazi.
In a statement on national television, Salihin called on “the army and revolutionaries to oppose any armed group that tries to control Benghazi by force of arms”…
South Africa Today – Africa News – Libya
