Libyan army recaptures 4 barracks
Libya’s army special forces have seized back four barracks from armed
Islamist groups in the eastern city of Benghazi, a commander said
yesterday, after two weeks of heavy fighting which has killed at least
210 people.
The army, backed by forces of a former general and other fighters, have
waged an offensive against Islamist groups in Libya’s second-largest
city — part of the chaos gripping the oil producer three years after the
overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.
Special forces commander Wanis Bukhamada told Reuters his forces
controlled the eastern exit road from Benghazi and four camps, including
the former army headquarters which it had lost with three others to the
Islamists in August.
The army had already said it had expelled Islamists from the airport
area and the February 17 camp, one of their strongholds in the port
city.
“The army is controlling 80 percent of the city and is cleansing several
area of members of Ansar Al Sharia,” Bukhamada said, referring to a
group blamed by Washington for a 2012 attack on the US consulate that
killed the American ambassador.
The army took a reporter on a tour to showcase what officers said was
territory it now controlled. Residents said more army reinforcements had
arrived in the past few days.
Colonel Mahdi Al Barghathi, commander of a tank battalion, said fighters
from Ansar al-Sharia had fled to the area of the seaport. Clashes
continued in the west of the city, he added.
At least 18 people died in the past two days, bringing the death toll from two weeks of fighting to 210, medics said.
Source: The Peninsula
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