Rival militias fight for Libya’s Benghazi

libya2Renewed fighting has broken out in Libya’s second largest city of Benghazi, hours after a televised statement in which retired army general, Khalifa Haftar, vowed to “liberate” the city from what he called terrorists.
Sources said gunfire and explosions were heard early yesterday and that aircraft belonging to the general’s forces were striking targets around the eastern city.

Witnesses said tanks and fighter jets had targeted a rival militia to Haftar, known as the “February 17 Martyrs Brigade”, who operate in parts of Benghazi.

The group is part of the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, a military coalition allied with the al-Qaeda-linked armed group Ansar al-Sharia, who control most of the city.

Haftar said in a a televised statement that his fighters are “fully prepared to achieve their intermediate goal . . . to liberate the city of Benghazi”. He said that a suicide attack on his forces had resulted in “a great loss” and that Wednesday will be a “decisive day”.

“We’ve taken the oath to take revenge for those martyrs, whether military or policemen or civilians,” Haftar said. “We can’t tolerate to see their blood going down the drain. We must ensure that the criminals will meet their just punishment,” he said on Tuesday.

Al Jazeera’s Mahmood Abdulwahid, reporting from Tripoli, said that the offensive launched by Haftar’s forces was responded to by a counter-offensive by the militia groups.

“The situation’s very tense [and] the battle is going on around the Benina airport, located just outside of Benghazi,” he said.

The oil-rich North African nation has been gripped by turmoil since the 2011 uprising, that toppled long-time leader Muammar Gaddafi, with the authorities struggling to control powerful militias that ousted and killed him.

A parliament, elected in June, is recognised by the international community but contested by the militia controlling most of Tripoli, where an alliance of armed groups hold sway, and by other armed groups who dominate Benghazi.

Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni and the elected parliament have decamped to the far eastern city of Tobruk because of widespread insecurity, including in the capital, where a rival administration has been set up. – AFP

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