Dozens of soldiers were killed and more than 70 wounded in car bomb attacks and clashes between troops and Islamists around Benghazi airport, a Libyan army spokesman said on Friday, as the UN threatened sanctions.
“Thirty-six soldiers were
killed on Thursday in three car bomb attacks, followed by fighting
between the army and Islamists”, a special forces unit spokesman said.
Two car bombs exploded when an army convoy travelled past close to the airport, taking out three soldiers, the spokesman said.
Later, a third bombing attack struck, also near the airport.
Libya has been sliding into
chaos since longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in a Nato-backed
uprising three years ago, with interim authorities confronted by
powerful militias that fought to oust him.
Parliament, which was elected
in June, is recognised by the international community but contested by
the militia controlling capital Tripoli and Islamists holding much of
the eastern city of Benghazi.
The cradle
of the uprising, Benghazi is now the regular scene not only of fighting
but also the murder of members of the security forces, political
activists and journalists.
The Islamists have since
September sought to seize control of Benghazi airport — the last
remaining bastion in the city of forces loyal to former general Khalifa
Haftar, who launched a military campaign against the insurgents in May.
On Wednesday, militiamen of
the Shura Revolutionary Council, which includes Islamist group Ansar Al
Sharia, launched a fresh assault on the airport, which has both civilian
and military airfields.
General Saqer Al Jerushi, an
aide to Haftar, said warplanes and helicopters were being used to
repulse the Islamists’ advance on the airport.
In New York, the UN Security Council on Thursday threatened sanctions against those who reject peace in Libya.
In a unanimous statement, the
15 members of the council “expressed their readiness to use targeted
sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, against individuals
or entities that threatened Libya’s peace and stability or undermined
its political transition”.
The move is an apparent bid at shoring up UN-brokered talks on ending the violence.
A first round of talks were
held on September 29, but the militia controlling Tripoli and jihadists
in Benghazi have rejected the peace initiative.
Another round of talks is scheduled after the Eid Al Adha holiday, which ends on Sunday evening.
The soldiers wounded in Thursday’s violence have been taken to hospital in Al Marj, 100 kilometres east of Benghazi.
At the same time, a source at
Benghazi’s Al Hawari hospital said 23 wounded Islamists had been
admitted there, some of them in critical condition.
A health ministry official said 79 people were killed in Benghazi in September.
Human Rights Watch said more
than 250 have lost their lives there and in Derna, another Islamist
stronghold further east, since the beginning of the year.
Source: gulfnews.com
Source: gulfnews.com
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