Gunmen shot dead an American chemistry teacher working at an international school in the Libyan city of Benghazi, medical and security sources said yesterday. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the killing.

Libyan special forces have been battling militants from Ansar al-Sharia in Benghazi. US officials blame the group for attacking the US consulate in the eastern city in September 2012, killing the ambassador and three other Americans.

Security sources said three soldiers were also killed in separate attacks yesterday in Benghazi.

Two years after a Nato-backed uprising ousted veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s armed forces are struggling to contain militias, former fighters and Islamist militants who control parts of the vast oil-producing country.

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