At least 25 people have been killed and 103 wounded in the past eight days of fighting between pro-government forces and Islamist groups in Libya’s second city Benghazi, medics said yesterday.
That brings the death toll to around 475 since the army and forces led by former general Khalifa Haftar started a campaign against Islamists in the port city in mid-October.
The pro-government forces have managed to expel Islamist fighters from the airport area and seize back army camps the Islamists took over in August.
Police and other government institutions have resumed work in some districts where the army is in control but fighting has continued in the port. Haftar’s warplanes have been bombing the area for weeks, but pro-government forces say Islamists are still holed up in the area.
“We have surrounded them on four sides,” said Haftar’s spokesman, Mohamed El Hejazi. The fighting in Benghazi is only one element of the turmoil sweeping the North African country. Two rival governments, each with its own parliament and army, claim legitimacy, three years after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.
Pro-government forces have managed to expel Islamists from Benghazi’s airport area
In August, Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni and his Cabinet were forced to leave Tripoli for the east when a group called Libya Dawn seized the capital.
The new rulers of Tripoli have set up their own administration, which has not been recognised by the United Nations and world powers.
The situation has been complicated by the Benghazi fighting, where Haftar has merged his force with the army under a mandate from the elected parliament, which is allied to Thinni.
Meanwhile Libya’s Tripoli-based state firm National Oil Corp (NOC) will remain independent, it said on Thursday, in an apparent attempt to reassure foreign oil buyers it will stay out of the country’s conflict. Libya’s two governments have been trying to control the vital energy sector. NOC is based in Tripoli, where the non-internationally recognised government sits.
“Regardless of the continuing challenges on various levels, NOC will remain independent,” NOC said in a statement. “As the sole legal entity to represent and act on behalf of the Libyan oil and gas sector, NOC will continue the sound partnerships with international oil companies.”